UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
5 Mar
2009
DRC Press Review
*Original in French
Wednesday's local press raises questions about whether the elections timetable would be respected. The papers also discuss the question of nationality under consideration in Parliament and the report on the latest Council of Ministers meeting, among other subjects.
Wednesday's local press raises questions about whether the elections timetable would be respected. The papers also discuss the question of nationality under consideration in Parliament and the report on the latest Council of Ministers meeting, among other subjects.
'Eleven months from now, it will be June 30, 2005, the date on which the Transition ends. The first twelve months went by uneventfully, without the Government making any move toward preparing the country for elections,' LE PHARE says in a story entitled 'Malu-Malu's smug optimism is worrisome.' The paper finds it curious that, in an interview with the private radio TOP CONGO on July 26, Appolinaire Malu-Malu, the President of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), expressed his 'inexplicable optimism that elections would be held within the set timeframe.' 'Still worse', the paper goes on saying, ' The IEC President contradicted perceptive observers and members of the ICT (or International Committee in Support of the Transition) by claiming that there was no delay so far.' According to the paper, 'The electoral process is yet to become reality and so why would people begin to rest on their laurels''
Referring to the electoral process, LE POTENTIEL headlines 'insufficient progress on the roadmap.' ' The tasks scheduled for the period April through July have not been completely carried out (..) In Parliament, Senators and MPs excel at delaying tactics (..) There is little chance that the challenge would be met,' the paper comments. According to the paper, 'Everybody speaks about elections. That is something everyone demands but no one really wants.'
'Explosive plenary in the Senate yesterday,' titles L'AVENIR, referring to heated debates on the Government-proposed law on nationality, which is now under consideration in the lower chamber of Parliament. The lawmakers denounced 'the vagueness and ambiguity on the part the Government,' the paper notes. 'This draft law is inappropriate during the transition period, but because elections must be held, it is necessary to vote the draft into law anyway, but to be applicable only during the transition, leaving it to the future legislature to settle the issue,' the paper says, echoing the general feeling among the Senators.
'Nationality: The Senate torn between voting during or after the transition,' LE PHARE notes. According to the paper, the Transitional Government wants to push through its draft law. However, quoting Justice Minister Kisimba Ngoy, the paper says, 'if it depended on him alone, the draft law under examination would have waited until after the transition to be passed.' 'I don't like reforms that are made in times of crisis,' the Minister is quoted as saying.
'Ethnic minorities: Z'ahidi Ngoma puts an end to the controversy,' headlines FORUM DES AS, referring to the Vice President in charge of the Socio-cultural Commission's statement that ' none of the entities can claim a majority or any supremacy or superiority over the others.' This idea of minority needing protection in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has even spread through the international community, the paper stresses. 'And yet the DRC is a mosaic of 450 tribes co-existing without any pretension to dominate each other,' says the paper, adding, 'On the fringes of the Parliament's debate on nationality, one can consider the question of minorities a closed matter.'
Z'ahidi Ngoma made that statement during the presentation of Human Development Report 2004, launched by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Kinshasa yesterday. 'The DRC sinks deeper: 168th among 177 countries,' notes LE PHARE, referring to figures provided on this occasion by UNDP representative Herbert McLeod. The DRC's human development indicator is estimated at 0,367, compared to 0,363 in 2003, when the country occupied the 167th position among 175 countries. The DRC surpasses only 8 countries: the Central African Republic (169th), Ethiopia, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Burundi, Mali, Burkina-Faso, Niger and Sierra Leone (177th), the paper notes. 'Rwanda ranks 159th,, Uganda 146th , while South African occupies the 119th position,' the paper writes.
'The Government declares itself satisfied with its economic programme,' announces LE POTENTIEL, referring to the report of Tuesday's Council of Ministers extraordinary meeting in Kinshasa. Precise figures verifiable by internal and international organisations show the DRC with a 5,6% growth rate, 4,4% inflation rate at the end of 2003 through the first semester of 2004; the rate of exchange has stabilised at 388 Congolese francs per US dollar, the paper reports. As quoted by LE POTENTIEL, the meeting report reads:'This economic stabilisation also translates into greater turnovers for companies. All these encouraging elements of the Government's performance point to evident possibilities of revival.' According to LE PALMARES, which describes the report as 'scandalous,' 'The Government praises itself while the people rot in poverty.' 'The charming figures presented by the Executive may be accurate, but the question is what the impact they have on the day-to-day lives of the people' the paper asks. 'What does the famous formula 1+4=0 (which students) shouted loudly during the June 2-4 riots mean to our leaders'' asks LE PALMARES, before concluding 'They should stop mocking us (..) unless the country they are referring to in the report was not the DRC but some country situated on planet Mars.'
At the beginning of Tuesday's Council of Ministers meeting, the newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ramazani Baya, took his oaths of office in front of the President. Ramazani intends to reactivate several great dossiers of cooperation and intensify efforts to attract foreign investors, according to L'OBSERVATEUR. 'The Minister however admitted that implementing this programme would require important financial means,' says the paper, wondering if the Government has such means.
In another piece, L'OBSERVATEUR, quoting the new Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, announces that 'Belgium will continue its support for the transition process in the DRC.' According to the paper, Mr. Karel De Gucht is expected to visit the central African region in October.
'International Criminal Court: the investigators in consultations in Kinshasa,' LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES headlines. According to the paper, members of the public are convinced that these investigators are here to do justice to thousands of victims of war crimes and other atrocities committed throughout the national territory beginning from the 1994 genocide in Rwanda through the war of liberation led by the Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo (AFDL) in 1996 to the recent bloody events in the Kivus.
Referring to the electoral process, LE POTENTIEL headlines 'insufficient progress on the roadmap.' ' The tasks scheduled for the period April through July have not been completely carried out (..) In Parliament, Senators and MPs excel at delaying tactics (..) There is little chance that the challenge would be met,' the paper comments. According to the paper, 'Everybody speaks about elections. That is something everyone demands but no one really wants.'
'Explosive plenary in the Senate yesterday,' titles L'AVENIR, referring to heated debates on the Government-proposed law on nationality, which is now under consideration in the lower chamber of Parliament. The lawmakers denounced 'the vagueness and ambiguity on the part the Government,' the paper notes. 'This draft law is inappropriate during the transition period, but because elections must be held, it is necessary to vote the draft into law anyway, but to be applicable only during the transition, leaving it to the future legislature to settle the issue,' the paper says, echoing the general feeling among the Senators.
'Nationality: The Senate torn between voting during or after the transition,' LE PHARE notes. According to the paper, the Transitional Government wants to push through its draft law. However, quoting Justice Minister Kisimba Ngoy, the paper says, 'if it depended on him alone, the draft law under examination would have waited until after the transition to be passed.' 'I don't like reforms that are made in times of crisis,' the Minister is quoted as saying.
'Ethnic minorities: Z'ahidi Ngoma puts an end to the controversy,' headlines FORUM DES AS, referring to the Vice President in charge of the Socio-cultural Commission's statement that ' none of the entities can claim a majority or any supremacy or superiority over the others.' This idea of minority needing protection in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has even spread through the international community, the paper stresses. 'And yet the DRC is a mosaic of 450 tribes co-existing without any pretension to dominate each other,' says the paper, adding, 'On the fringes of the Parliament's debate on nationality, one can consider the question of minorities a closed matter.'
Z'ahidi Ngoma made that statement during the presentation of Human Development Report 2004, launched by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Kinshasa yesterday. 'The DRC sinks deeper: 168th among 177 countries,' notes LE PHARE, referring to figures provided on this occasion by UNDP representative Herbert McLeod. The DRC's human development indicator is estimated at 0,367, compared to 0,363 in 2003, when the country occupied the 167th position among 175 countries. The DRC surpasses only 8 countries: the Central African Republic (169th), Ethiopia, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Burundi, Mali, Burkina-Faso, Niger and Sierra Leone (177th), the paper notes. 'Rwanda ranks 159th,, Uganda 146th , while South African occupies the 119th position,' the paper writes.
'The Government declares itself satisfied with its economic programme,' announces LE POTENTIEL, referring to the report of Tuesday's Council of Ministers extraordinary meeting in Kinshasa. Precise figures verifiable by internal and international organisations show the DRC with a 5,6% growth rate, 4,4% inflation rate at the end of 2003 through the first semester of 2004; the rate of exchange has stabilised at 388 Congolese francs per US dollar, the paper reports. As quoted by LE POTENTIEL, the meeting report reads:'This economic stabilisation also translates into greater turnovers for companies. All these encouraging elements of the Government's performance point to evident possibilities of revival.' According to LE PALMARES, which describes the report as 'scandalous,' 'The Government praises itself while the people rot in poverty.' 'The charming figures presented by the Executive may be accurate, but the question is what the impact they have on the day-to-day lives of the people' the paper asks. 'What does the famous formula 1+4=0 (which students) shouted loudly during the June 2-4 riots mean to our leaders'' asks LE PALMARES, before concluding 'They should stop mocking us (..) unless the country they are referring to in the report was not the DRC but some country situated on planet Mars.'
At the beginning of Tuesday's Council of Ministers meeting, the newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ramazani Baya, took his oaths of office in front of the President. Ramazani intends to reactivate several great dossiers of cooperation and intensify efforts to attract foreign investors, according to L'OBSERVATEUR. 'The Minister however admitted that implementing this programme would require important financial means,' says the paper, wondering if the Government has such means.
In another piece, L'OBSERVATEUR, quoting the new Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, announces that 'Belgium will continue its support for the transition process in the DRC.' According to the paper, Mr. Karel De Gucht is expected to visit the central African region in October.
'International Criminal Court: the investigators in consultations in Kinshasa,' LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES headlines. According to the paper, members of the public are convinced that these investigators are here to do justice to thousands of victims of war crimes and other atrocities committed throughout the national territory beginning from the 1994 genocide in Rwanda through the war of liberation led by the Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo (AFDL) in 1996 to the recent bloody events in the Kivus.
