UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
10 Mar
2009
Press Review 1 July 2005
The few local papers published this 1st July in Kinshasa diversely comment on the 30 June 2005 event.
'The Worst [end of Transition] did not happen,' headlines La Référence Plus, an independent paper, alluding to the march organised by Etienne Tshisekedi's party, 'Union pour la démocratie et le progrès social' (UDPS), against the 6-month extension of the transition, as from 1st July 2005. The paper writes on its front page, 'several districts and neighbourhoods of Kinshasa were quite unconcerned'and the students whose action could have been decisive just kept aside;' 'the high interest shown by Kinshasa residents in voter registration proves their support to the ongoing electoral process,' the paper says, adding, 'UDPS should have taken this into account in order to re-orient its political claims'It is high time for UDPS leadership to adapt their political speech and strategies to the new political realities that are far different from the 2nd Republic,' advises La Référence Plus.
Similar analysis is done by L'Observateur, which headlines, 'UDPS plays and loses,' and highlights, 'the so-much-feared day of reckoning did not come up.' The pro-PPRD paper [PPRD is President Kabila's party] noticed 'the absence of UDPS and other Opposition parties' senior members supposed to lead the march' explains why 'there were seldom any groups over 300 ' 400 people (') The streets were left to strollers who did not have anything to do with UDPS.' Wondering what could be UDPS position, notably its leader's, 'after the failed march,' L'Observateur considers, 'the best alternative for UDPS would be to accept the logic of the elections' for 'it would be suicidal for Etienne Tshisekedi's party to miss such an opportunity,' the paper says.
'30 June celebrations marred by bloodshed', reads the leading headline in Le Potentiel, a pro-UDPS. According to the paper, 'The attempt by UDPS activists and other unidentified militants to demonstrate against the transitional government was foiled in some districts of the capital and crushed in other districts.' Quoting 'preliminary estimates' of the death toll, the paper reports that the incident left 'One dead, according to the government, 17 dead, according to UDPS, and 2 dead and over 150 arrested, according to [the human rights group] ASADHO.' In its editorial titled 'The profanation', Le Potentiel writes, 'the government, more than ever, divides and tries to suppress any constructive criticism.' Claiming that to 'many Congolese the future looks bleak,' the paper suggests that 'the government should consider changing its policy or go down, [and that] the profanation of 30 June [which also marks DR Congo's Independence Day] should provide the opportunity to make a fresh start.'
Similar analysis is done by L'Observateur, which headlines, 'UDPS plays and loses,' and highlights, 'the so-much-feared day of reckoning did not come up.' The pro-PPRD paper [PPRD is President Kabila's party] noticed 'the absence of UDPS and other Opposition parties' senior members supposed to lead the march' explains why 'there were seldom any groups over 300 ' 400 people (') The streets were left to strollers who did not have anything to do with UDPS.' Wondering what could be UDPS position, notably its leader's, 'after the failed march,' L'Observateur considers, 'the best alternative for UDPS would be to accept the logic of the elections' for 'it would be suicidal for Etienne Tshisekedi's party to miss such an opportunity,' the paper says.
'30 June celebrations marred by bloodshed', reads the leading headline in Le Potentiel, a pro-UDPS. According to the paper, 'The attempt by UDPS activists and other unidentified militants to demonstrate against the transitional government was foiled in some districts of the capital and crushed in other districts.' Quoting 'preliminary estimates' of the death toll, the paper reports that the incident left 'One dead, according to the government, 17 dead, according to UDPS, and 2 dead and over 150 arrested, according to [the human rights group] ASADHO.' In its editorial titled 'The profanation', Le Potentiel writes, 'the government, more than ever, divides and tries to suppress any constructive criticism.' Claiming that to 'many Congolese the future looks bleak,' the paper suggests that 'the government should consider changing its policy or go down, [and that] the profanation of 30 June [which also marks DR Congo's Independence Day] should provide the opportunity to make a fresh start.'
