“Storm and delays delays voting in the Congo”
“When the polling stations have now opened in the Congo-Kinshasa after lengthy delays with the escalating violence and bloody protests. A storm with heavy rain and the accompanying power outage stalling the further opening of the polling stations in several places.”
“the Presidential election in the corrupt and war-torn Congo-Kinshasa has been postponed in the rounds. Now the last time a week ago, with reference to large quantities of polling materials have been destroyed in a fire in the capital, Kinshasa.”
“President Joseph Kabila, who really should have retired two years ago, has managed to cling to power despite massive and bloody protests – but today, the congolese finally go to the polls to vote on a replacement.”
“the Heavy rain and the power outage meant that several polling stations in Kinshasa in the morning opened later than planned. The new, electronic voting system also posed technical problems on several fronts.”
“– Some don’t even know how to use röstmaskinen, says Kaymbe Mvita Dido, first in the queue for one of the polling stations, to the AFP.”
“There is not much evidence to suggest that it’s all going to go right to, claim Maria Eriksson Baaz, a professor of political science at Uppsala university.”
“the 2011 Elections were characterised by massive fraud and the secret service was deployed to ensure that people voted”
“– And this choice is expected to become even less free, ” she says.”
“by 200 african election observers have been invited, but none from the EU, according to AFP. Election commission’s new electronic rösträkningsmaskiner with touch screen has created great concern and suspicion when they are considered easy to manipulate.”
“Also, is the 1.3 million registered voters in and around the towns of Beni and Butembo, province of Nord-Kivu, and in and around Yumbi in the province of Mai-Ndombe completely excluded in Sunday’s elections, according to the authority on the basis of the conflict and comprehensive ebolautbrott.”
“a Total of 40 million voters registered in the country.”
“the Opposition presidential candidates has the greatest support of the population, according to a poll by the New York University Congo Research Group.”
“Businessman Martin Fayulu has greatly increased in popularity in recent months and leads by 44 percent.”
“Felix Tshisekedi from the main opposition party has 23 percent and the ruling alliance’s presidential candidate, who is also the country’s former interior minister, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary 18 per cent.”
“Yet it is very unbelievable that any of the opposition candidates wins, claims Eriksson Baaz.”
“– Too many perceived it as already a foregone conclusion.”
“Shadary said on Saturday to the news agency Reuters that”
“According to the election commission to the election results published on 15 January, and a new president sworn in on 18 January. How this goes together with the deferred elections in the provinces of Nord-Kivu, and the Mai-Ndombe, planned in march, however, is unclear.”
“the democratic republic of Congo became independent from Belgium in 1960. The availability of natural resources such as gold, uranium, copper and cobalt could have made the country one of the world’s richest, but corrupting the leaders and the brutal militias have instead made it one of the world’s poorest.”
“The so-called Kongokrigen, in the realm of ethnic conflict in the eastern part of the country, has contributed much suffering. The war of 1998-2003 is regarded by many as the deadliest conflict since the second world war and although the war formally now is the completion of the still ongoing local violence in the east.”
“at Least 3.3 million people are estimated to have died in the war since 1998. Several neighbouring states have been involved. The UN accused in 2010 of all of the foreign forces for serious war crimes. The hardest criticism has been directed against the troops from Rwanda and Uganda.”
“in recent years, tensions further increased in several other directions and, at the end of the year 2017u002F2018 were 4 million displaced within the country. The situation is particularly serious in the Kasai region, but new battles are also going on in North and South kivu in the east, where the resistance against president Joseph Kabila increased.”
“At the presidential elections on Sunday is also parliamentary elections and elections to the provincial local parliaments.”
“Sources: institute of Foreign affairs, the Swedish national encyclopaedia,”
