Berliner Boersenzeitung - DR Congo election campaign kicks off with fireworks and bullets

EUR -
AED 3.980447
AFN 76.425222
ALL 100.74696
AMD 436.912951
ANG 1.954503
AOA 898.30222
ARS 392.937771
AUD 1.63805
AWG 1.950986
AZN 1.830865
BAM 1.951392
BBD 2.189653
BDT 119.291604
BGN 1.956511
BHD 0.408517
BIF 3089.061865
BMD 1.083881
BND 1.447842
BOB 7.493072
BRL 5.35958
BSD 1.08445
BTN 90.420727
BWP 14.694735
BYN 3.572763
BYR 21244.074583
BZD 2.185952
CAD 1.467548
CDF 2893.963137
CHF 0.945568
CLF 0.034096
CLP 940.808739
CNY 7.734791
COP 4357.744993
CRC 573.90347
CUC 1.083881
CUP 28.722856
CVE 110.826602
CZK 24.417627
DJF 192.627202
DKK 7.455584
DOP 61.557616
DZD 146.104707
EGP 33.515666
ERN 16.25822
ETB 60.374282
FJD 2.417869
FKP 0.85335
GBP 0.85786
GEL 2.92428
GGP 0.85335
GHS 13.017525
GIP 0.85335
GMD 73.026481
GNF 9326.799239
GTQ 8.494887
GYD 227.067023
HKD 8.471671
HNL 26.770562
HRK 7.632226
HTG 143.435958
HUF 380.062499
IDR 16783.360861
ILS 4.036401
IMP 0.85335
INR 90.413427
IQD 1419.884577
IRR 45807.532299
ISK 150.897687
JEP 0.85335
JMD 168.251448
JOD 0.768909
JPY 159.598269
KES 166.104771
KGS 96.78645
KHR 4462.339992
KMF 490.401878
KPW 975.493515
KRW 1421.153046
KWD 0.334865
KYD 0.903754
KZT 501.148586
LAK 22436.343756
LBP 16370.728438
LKR 355.899971
LRD 203.932469
LSL 20.170719
LTL 3.20042
LVL 0.655629
LYD 5.221253
MAD 10.92606
MDL 19.232551
MGA 4877.466372
MKD 61.637824
MMK 2277.344646
MNT 3720.175292
MOP 8.730676
MRO 386.945458
MUR 47.940177
MVR 16.648524
MWK 1825.799041
MXN 18.932167
MYR 5.051374
MZN 68.555442
NAD 20.171174
NGN 866.021711
NIO 39.848861
NOK 11.747209
NPR 144.673163
NZD 1.758159
OMR 0.417281
PAB 1.084445
PEN 4.050886
PGK 4.047103
PHP 59.990126
PKR 308.635039
PLN 4.329727
PYG 8045.897394
QAR 3.946141
RON 4.968535
RSD 117.329505
RUB 99.166197
RWF 1349.34541
SAR 4.065874
SBD 9.18692
SCR 14.326736
SDG 651.412944
SEK 11.299842
SGD 1.449853
SHP 1.318813
SLE 24.642059
SLL 21406.656447
SOS 619.442693
SRD 40.752891
STD 22434.155727
SYP 14092.607289
SZL 20.171012
THB 38.192721
TJS 11.84758
TMT 3.793585
TND 3.374176
TOP 2.555904
TRY 31.346388
TTD 7.35239
TWD 34.042565
TZS 2715.121734
UAH 39.655031
UGX 4115.702038
USD 1.083881
UYU 42.444503
UZS 13337.16012
VEF 3851696.775976
VES 38.51697
VND 26289.542296
VUV 128.697593
WST 2.90817
XAF 654.475427
XAG 0.044198
XAU 0.000533
XCD 2.929244
XDR 0.813969
XOF 651.412677
XPF 119.064483
YER 271.349422
ZAR 20.378705
ZMK 9756.23296
ZMW 25.836631
ZWL 349.009354
  • NGG

    -0.6300

    66.21

    -0.95%

  • CMSC

    -0.1300

    24.48

    -0.53%

  • SCS

    -0.0200

    12.44

    -0.16%

  • GSK

    0.0600

    36.63

    +0.16%

  • BCC

    2.1800

    114.57

    +1.9%

  • SLAC

    -0.0700

    10.27

    -0.68%

  • AZN

    0.2300

    65.02

    +0.35%

  • BTI

    -0.1100

    31.93

    -0.34%

  • SCU

    -0.0300

    12.72

    -0.24%

  • RIO

    -2.1100

    69.05

    -3.06%

  • BP

    -0.3900

    35.59

    -1.1%

  • RYCEF

    0.1060

    3.636

    +2.92%

  • RBGPF

    0.0260

    68.036

    +0.04%

  • CMSD

    -0.2800

    24.05

    -1.16%

  • JRI

    0.0400

    11.32

    +0.35%

  • BCE

    0.2900

    40.6

    +0.71%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    38.59

    +0.08%

  • VOD

    -0.1800

    9.04

    -1.99%

DR Congo election campaign kicks off with fireworks and bullets
DR Congo election campaign kicks off with fireworks and bullets / Photo: Arsene Mpiana - AFP

DR Congo election campaign kicks off with fireworks and bullets

Democratic Republic of the Congo launched a month-long election campaign Sunday with 26 candidates running for president amid a tense political climate and relentless fighting in the east of the country.

Text size:

Around 44 million registered voters, out of a population of almost 100 million, are set to elect a president on December 20.

They will also choose between tens of thousands of candidates for legislative and local bodies in a country with vast natural resources but endemic conflict and corruption.

A "pre-campaign" has been underway for a while, with President Felix Tshisekedi, who is seeking a second term, attending several public events while his allies vaunt his record.

With the start of the official campaign, big rallies, media interviews, giant posters and handing out flyers will be allowed.

On opening day, Tshisekedi held a rally at the Martyrs stadium in Kinshasa, which was filled to its capacity of 80,000 people, while one of his main challengers, Martin Fayulu, addressed a rally in a nearby province.

In total there are a record 25,832 candidates for the legislative elections, 44,110 for provincial bodies and 31,234 for municipal councils, according to the Electoral Commission (CENI), which faces the struggle of organising voting across a country of 2.3 million square kilometres (890,000 square miles) and limited infrastructure.

"There is a political will to stick to the electoral calendar, but there are doubts about the technical feasibility," said Tresor Kibangula, a political analyst at the Ebuteli research institute.

But for Sylvain Lesoye, a priest in a Kinshasa suburb, "the CENI is not inspiring confidence", citing the poor quality of many voter registration cards, some with illegible photos or signatures.

- 'Wasting my time' -

"The CENI knows the challenge it faces, and that it's credibility is at stake," said political analyst Jean-Luc Kong. "But what really scares people is the crisis in the east."

The east of the country has been racked by fighting for three decades, and violence is surging again after the M23 group, supported by Rwanda, recently occupied much of North Kivu province.

The fighting will prevent normal voting in two territories in the province, but the whole process would be threatened if rebels take the provincial capital Goma.

"M23 will not take Goma," Tshisekedi has insisted, saying a return to calm is his priority along with improving services and the economy, building roads and respecting freedom of speech and of the press.

His record is mixed, according to analysts, and disastrous according to the opposition, which is already warning of widescale voting fraud.

In addition to Fayulu, who claims he was robbed of victory in 2018, the main opposition candidates are Moise Katumbi, former governor of the Katanga mining region; Doctor Denis Mukwege, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for his work with victims of sexual violence; and two former prime ministers.

The incumbent president is favoured to win, particularly since there is only one round of voting, but representatives of five leading opposition groups met this week in South Africa to study the possibility of proposing a single candidate.

A coalition has been formed and a common platform adopted, but Fayulu has yet to adhere.

Voters are mixed about the value of voting.

Eunice, a 20-year-old geography student, said she was "happy" to be voting for the first time.

But Ezechiel, a 24-year-old studying management IT, is discouraged. "There will be fraud, like in 2018," he said. "I am not going to waste my time."

(F.Schuster--BBZ)