Press Review of 24 April 2006

10 Mar 2009

Press Review of 24 April 2006

DRC electoral process is the major issue in today's local press.
The 33 short-listed presidential candidates will have to wait for the green light before launching any electoral campaign. The Head of the Independent Electoral Commission is "filing today a request on the articles 28 and 110 of the electoral law to the Supreme Court of Justice," says Le Potentiel. "CEI, the Independent Electoral Commission will first get a reply from this Judiciary Institution before deciding on the timing for the electoral campaign...," highlights Le Potentiel. The Independent Electoral Commission had previously referred the issue to the National Assembly which declared itself "incompetent to interpret such laws..." highlights Le Potentiel.

Referring to the articles 28 and 110 referred to the Supreme Court of Justice for interpretation, the paper says, "Father Malu Malu, Head of the CEI, abused his power. He arguably forgot that he was not in control," says L'Avenir. "The process is faced with logistic problems," notes La Référence Plus.

There is nothing to worry about. "It is very difficult to organise elections in a huge country such as the DRC due to technical and logistic problems...there should be many complex issues to solve," explains L'Observateur. Notwithstanding, "the electoral process is irreversible," says L'Observateur, echoing Aldo Ajelo, the Special Envoy of the European Union to the Great Lakes region.

The elections must be secured. To this end, "the European Union will deploy 500 troops in the DRC," indicates L'Observateur. "The military integration is just a big joke since some portions of the country are under control of militia groups. North Katanga under the evil repute Gédéon, the Kivus under the Interhamwe...not to mention the praetorian guards concentrated in Kinshasa...," points out Le Phare.

Cardinal Etsou, Kinshasa Archbishop, has "appealed to journalists and other communicators to always provide people with clear and verifiable information," reports La Tempête des Tropiques. In other words, the Archbishop advised journalists against "playing into politicians' hands and/or playing their games," reports L'Observateur.

In other news, UDPS march scheduled for today was banned by the Kinshasa Town Hall. However, the movement's leadership urged their members to remain "vigilant and to participate in all demonstrations aimed at making UDPS' voice heard until concrete solutions are found to their concerns contained in a memorandum addressed to the United Nations Secretary General," says Le Palmarès.