July 24, 2006, 06:00
Powerful Catholic leaders in Congo's capital urged voters yesterday to boycott historic elections next week unless allegations of fraud were addressed, raising concerns over the first multi-party polls in 40 years.
A statement from the Catholic hierarchy in Kinshasa read to packed churches said confusion over the number of registered voters and the high number of spare printed ballots confirmed attempts to rig the July 30 vote in the former Belgian colony.
"The members of the Episcopal Council invite the people, if these irregularities are not corrected, to abstain from the elections," Father Leon de Saint Moulin told an 800-strong congregation in Saint Joseph's church, to a burst of applause.
Church not recognise validity
The country's influential Catholic bishops said on Friday that all necessary conditions did not exist to hold fair elections and warned the Church would not recognise their validity unless this was addressed.
Congo's electoral commission, which with United Nations support is organising the landmark vote aimed at drawing a line under the 1998-2003 civil war that killed 4 million people, has brushed aside the concerns and said the vote would go ahead.
More than half of Congo's 60 million people are Catholics. Many parishioners leaving St. Joseph's expressed support for the Church's position, after street protests by candidates complaining of irregularities by Joseph Kabila, the DRC president, and his backers.
"Everything has been positioned for Kabila to win. We already know the result so it is pointless," said Pierre-Celestin Mulumba-Lobo, a 39-year-old state employee. "We Catholics are going to abstain and the Church is a powerful force in this country ... What type of elections will we have then? There will be a crisis of legitimacy."
East should vote
However, in the east, where militias continue to fight for control of Congo's fabulous mineral resources, the Catholic Church told the faithful to support the elections.
The contradictory positions reflected the confusion surrounding the organisation of such crucial polls in a country the size of western Europe, which lacks basic infrastructure.
Despite the Catholic leaders' appeal in Kinshasa, many Congolese said they were keen to take part in a vote that will decide their nation's future after years of war and chaos. "I want to vote. It's important for me and for the country to have a leader elected by the people and not a rebel who comes to take power through arms," said Emmanuel Ekinyofon, 33.
Irregularities undermine validity
International electoral observers the Carter Centre have said that some of the accusations of irregularities were being used to undermine the validity of the polls. "We consider these to be extremely important elections, Congo plays a huge role in the stability of the region," Colin Stewart, co-director of the Carter Centre's Congo bureau, said.
More than half of the 33 presidential candidates running have called for a suspension of campaigning; saying the printing of 5 million extra ballot papers has raised fears of fraud.
Rebels and renegade militias still terrorise civilians in many parts of the country, despite the presence of a 17 000 -UN peacekeeping force, the largest in the world. That adds to the daunting logistical challenges facing the polls.
The Catholic bishops criticised the excess ballots, "contradictory statements" about the exact number of voters, estimated at around 25 million, as well as the absence of an official electoral calendar beyond the July 30 date.
32 other presidential challengers
Kabila, who assumed power after his father was assassinated in 2001, is standing with 32 other presidential challengers including former rebel leaders. More than 9 000 candidates are running for 500 national assembly seats.
If no presidential candidate gains more than 50% of the vote in the first round, a second round will be held, probably in mid-October. - Reuters
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