Congo's Catholic church questions government's election preparations
23/06/2023 17:31
KINSHASA, June 23 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of
Congo's government is not on track with preparations for
elections, the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO)
said on Friday ahead of presidential and parliamentary polls
later this year.
The country's Catholic church has a long history of
promoting democracy in the vast African country where organising
elections has been complicated by financial and logistical
problems, and where disputes over vote tampering have frequently
caused widespread unrest.
The election commission, CENI, has made insufficient
progress creating a tripartite consultation framework between
the majority, the opposition and civil society, and not invited
international observers to ensure fair elections, CENCO said.
"CENI's refusal to respond favourably to these two pertinent
requests is proof enough that the electoral process is off to a
bad start," the church said in a statement.
The opposition candidate Martin Fayulu had mirrored these
concerns, and said the voter registration process took place in
total opacity, which was according to him "a proof of the
planning and execution of fraud".
The election commission did not respond to the comments and
told Reuters that it will address the electorate on Sunday.
The Catholic church is currently gearing up to monitor
elections scheduled for December in which President Felix
Tshisekedi will seek a second term in office.
(Reporting by Ange Kasongo; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian;
editing by David Evans)
((Anait.Miridzhanian@thomsonreuters.com;))