Eligibility requirements issue was discussed by MPs, says LE PHARE. "Candidates' profile for the presidential elections, the security funds to be disbursed by the candidate and the morality of the male and female candidates to run for the presidential elections sparked off stormy debates," says the paper. The mixed parity commission tasked to review the amendments to the draft law says the candidates must meet minimum intellectual requirement. They further recommended a bachelor degree and at least five-year experience in running public affairs. For some MPs, "this is an attempt to exclude candidates," reports LE PHARE. Some MPs even argued that "educational background was not as important as professional experience," Others, on the contrary say, "the parliament should retain either the educational background or the professional experience but not both."

With respect to the moral qualities required, MPs recommended that "those who have already been sentenced for corruption and do not have a clear marital status must be excluded and candidates must have a clean police record," says L'OBSERVATEUR. The security funds to be paid by the candidate for the presidential elections should be brought down to 11 million francs, writes the paper, indicating, some MPs advocated for the reduction of the amount while others for an increase of the security amount since, they argue, "The candidates must not be poor, otherwise they would steal from the State coffer," says LE PALMARES.

"MPs finally opted for open lists," writes LE POTENTIEL. L'AVENIR, for its part, says, the International Committee for the Follow-Up of the Transition (CIAT) firmly sticks to the closed lists mode and "disregarding the DRC MPs choice;" "the receiving hand is ever dependent on the giving hand." The paper comments, "Closed lists are very much preferred by President Kagamé (of Rwanda) and his DRC puppets" since the system will protect the ethnic minorities, yet "in DRC, all the 450 ethnic groups are a minority."

Alarming situation in Kivu: Succession of meetings in Kigali, headlines LE POTENTIEL. The paper reports the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Haile Menkerios travelled to Kigali last weekend. He conferred with Rwandan President Paul Kagamé and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Charles Murigande over the situation prevailing in Rutshuru, says the paper. "Mr. Menkerios urged the Rwandan leaders to do everything in their power in order to help keep the DRC peace process on track." They furthered reviewed the disarmament, demobilization, repatriation, resettlement and reintegration process (DDRRR) which is apparently in deadlock. Kigali complains that not enough means were devoted to this process, reports the paper.

LE PALMARES reports that 46 dissident troops have turned their back on Laurent Nkunda, "the elements of the 83rd brigade who fought the loyalist troops for two weeks." The dissident troops disassociated themselves from the dissident General and surrendered to MONUC Indian troops. The UN Mission transported them to Goma, reports LE PALMARES. The paper further announced the visit of the DRC Minister of Defense, Adolphe Onusumba to Goma to attempt to "restore peace in a region plagued by military activities from the armed elements loyal to the dissident General Laurent Nkunda," concludes the paper.