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The reason attributed is that its election observers who arrived in the DRC had been unable to deploy across the country for security reasons. EU said that it was unable to make its mission deploy the observers to oversee the election process
The European Union announced cancelling its election observation mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) due to technical reasons. The reason attributed is that its election observers who arrived in the DRC had been unable to deploy across the country for security reasons. EU said that it was unable to make its mission deploy the observers to oversee the election process.
European Union diplomatic service spokesperson Nabila Massrali in a statement said that essential telecommunications equipment had not been made available to the observers deployed in the country ahead of the December 20 polls. She added that the EU encourages the DRC authorities and all stakeholders to continue their efforts to ensure that the Congolese people can fully exercise their legitimate political and civil rights in the forthcoming elections.
In her statement released recently, the EU spokesperson further said that the organization was examining other options with the Congolese authorities, including the possibility of maintaining a mission of electoral experts to observe the electoral process from the capital.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, a vast Central African country with a population of almost 100 million, is due to hold legislative and presidential elections on December 20th. The incumbent President Félix Tshisekedi (60), is seeking a second term. He came to power in the last elections in 2018. At the time, many observers felt that the elections were marred by irregularities. Representatives of the Catholic Church, a predominantly Christian group in the DRC also felt the same.
This European electoral observation mission, the first in the DRC for over 10 years, was announced in early November by the EU’s head of diplomacy, Josep Borrell. For almost 30 years, the DRC has been shaken by violence from armed groups in the east of the country, where peacekeeping troops from the UN and the Community of East African States (EAC) are deployed.
The violence is currently peaking with the return of a former rebel movement, the M23 (“March 23 Movement”), supported by neighboring Rwanda, according to numerous sources.President Tshisekedi’s government has decided not to renew beyond December 8 the mandate of the EAC force deployed to combat the M23.
Meanwhile, the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC (Monusco), present in the country since 1999, declared last week that it had signed a plan with the government to withdraw its 14,000 peacekeepers deployed in the country.
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https://trendsnafrica.com/drc-presidential-aspirant-denis-mukwege-vows-to-end-corruption/
https://trendsnafrica.com/eu-observers-before-drc-election/
The campaign for the parliamentary and presidential elections began on November 19 in the DRC. The country has been rocked for nearly 30 years by violence by armed groups in the east, where peacekeepers from the UN and the East African Community (EAC) are deployed.
