Kinshasa's Catholic Archdiocese's message calling for an election boycott should the conditions for a credible election not be achieved attracts abundant comment in today's Kinshasa press.

In a message read out yesterday [Sunday] in all parishes of Kinshasa and signed by "several bishops, priests, abbots and brothers, the Catholic Church of Kinshasa threatens to call for a boycott of elections," the [pro-UDPS (UDPS is Etienne Tshisekedi's opposition party)] Le Phare reports. The boycott will become a reality, Le Phare explains, if "the demands by political and social forces continue to be ignored."

To the Independent Electoral Commission, the political authorities, the CIAT [International Committee In Support of the Transition] and the international community, the Catholic Church of Kinshasa publicly expressed "its desire to see elections held without any manipulation or any fraud, and without imposing on the people choices different from their own," L'Observateur reports.

"This message is unworthy of a church whose role is to help ensure the community is united," notes [the pro-PPRD(PPRD is a pro-Joseph Kabila party)] L'Observateur, stressing "that [such message] reflects its authors' confused feeling and hardly hides their political bias...The language used is identical to that which is typical among political agitators of all countries," L'Observateur concludes.

According to [the pro-opposition] Le Potentiel, the fact remains that this message stresses "once more, the desire of all Congolese people to claim ownership over the electoral process in order that everything may take place in conditions of full transparency so as to ensure a peaceful post-election period." Better still, this message is "a token of awareness and political responsibility so that the Democratic Republic of the Congo can come out of its torpor and resolutely engage itself in the rebirth process for a new Congo," Le Potentiel adds.

According to Le Palmarès, the Archdiocese Episcopal Council of Kinshasa "called on the people to stand ready to keep away from elections if the irregularities observed were not rectified prior to the [current] electoral campaign stop date," while other archdioceses, especially those of Bukavu and Lubumbashi "prayed for the 30 July 2006 elections, expressing supporting for the holding of [these polls]."
According to [the pro-opposition] Le Potentiel, the fact remains that this message stresses "once more, the desire of all Congolese people to claim ownership over the electoral process in order that everything may take place in conditions of full transparency so as to ensure a peaceful post-election period." Better still, this message is "a token of awareness and political responsibility so that the Democratic Republic of the Congo can come out of its torpor and resolutely engage itself in the rebirth process for a new Congo," Le Potentiel adds.

According to Le Palmarès, the Archdiocese Episcopal Council of Kinshasa "called on the people to stand ready to keep away from elections if the irregularities observed were not rectified prior to the [current] electoral campaign stop date," while other archdioceses, especially those of Bukavu and Lubumbashi "praye

"When one looks closely at all the incidents in the organisation of elections and the turns taken by this electoral campaign, [there is] nothing reassur[ing]," Le Potentiel notes. On the contrary, this daily paper adds, "transparency appears to be lacking because of trafficking in voter cards." And yet, notes Le Potentiel in its editorial column, these elections should be regarded as "a chance to resolve definitively the dispute over [the government's] legitimacy of power that has long plagued the national political landscape and has crippled the functioning of the State."

At any case, "if [these] irregularities are not eliminated," Vice President Azarias Ruberwa promises that "he will use all democratic means to prevent whoever wins the election from governing," [the pro-PPRD] L'Avenir reports. According to this daily paper, Ruberwa, who is one of the presidential candidates, should "act now and not wait for the publication of [election] results for him to challenge them, if he is really convinced of the existence of any irregularities..." For his part, Vice President Arthur Z'ahidi Ngoma, also a presidential contender, considers that holding "political consultations remains a necessary step towards giving credibility to the elections," [the independent] Forum des As reports.