“How can we talk of development, when a woman is in danger, to be on your way to the market or to draw Water raped?” Dr. Denis Mukwege is angry. This year’s Nobel peace prize winner is aware of the abuses in his home country only too well: civil war, political apathy, and violence. The greatest desire of the doctor for the upcoming elections? “We need peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
The situation is tense, if the Central African state on Sunday for a new President. The ballot passes peacefully, it would be the first Time since independence from Belgium in 1960, the Congo makes a democratic exchange between two civilians experienced. Out of the approximately 84 million of the Congo, read in part, would have waited “decades”, says Vincent Makori. The long-time Africa Analyst estimates the chances of that, however small, had manipulated the Regime in the past elections to keep the ruling elite in Power.
Actually, as early as 2016, would have to be a new President elected. President Joseph Kabila took the political uncertainty, however, lead to reign of two years over his term of office. Until recently, it looked like Kabila strut an unconstitutional third term in office. In August, he said finally, to the Power – only temporary, however, as he intimated in an Interview.
Three candidates in the race
Kabila’s dance to the highest public office is just one of the many question marks that accompany the elections. According to Stephanie Wolters, head of the Department for conflict management and risk analysis in the African “Institute for security studies”, had 70 percent of the Congolese have no confidence in the state election authority. “This is the first Time that the Kong organized Oles government elections even without any international support,” says Wolters. Doubt Mr not only about the tens of millions of presumably fictitious Voters in the electoral register, the voting booth itself provided in advance for the protests: for the First time will be elected by a touch screen on more than 100,000 voting machines. Critics fear that the Regime attempts to manipulate the elections. Because of thousands of voting machines were on the verge of Christmas eve, worked in a warehouse fire in flames, had to be postponed the election a week – critics saw as an attempt by the Kabila regime to cling to Power.
Many observers agree that There are elections in the sign of Chaos. Three weeks before the vote came in the province of South Kivu, during Fighting between the army and the rebels, 18 people died. To add to the long civil war in the East of the country, a new threat by Islamists, apparently. Further uncertainty brought about the spread of Ebola in the civil war area.
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The period after Kabila’s presidential election brings a change of power in the Congo
Three candidates fight for the presidency. As the most promising candidate Emmanuel Shadary, to be chosen by President Kabila personally, as his successor. Critics fear that the government is party to install the previous Minister of the interior, as the head of state; already in the election campaign, the unpopular politicians returned to the state resources.
