The majority of today's local papers devote their headlines to the constitutional referendum scheduled for 18 December and the various calls on the Congolese to vote in favor of or against the "constitution."

"The Protestant church has made its position clear while the Catholic Church has not issued any specific guidance to its members. The protestant church has clearly called on its members to vote "in favour of the constitution," says LE POTENTIEL. This leads the paper to say that churches are in an awkward position. The churches' message was highly expected, and over 80% of the Congolese people are Christians. The paper alludes to the press conference on the vote of the draft constitution held by the head of the Conference Episcopale Nationale du Congo known as CENCO and archbishop of Kisangani, Bishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya Monday and a statement made by Bishop Pierre Marini Bodho, national leader of the Eglise du Christ au Congo known as ECC and head of the senate: "The speaker of the Senate called for a massive vote in favor of the constitution despite the flaws in the draft constitution that will be corrected by the next legislature," while the Catholic prelate called on the Congolese people's conscience, "placing them before God, History and the Nation to make a wise choice" and recalled that it was "a moral duty whose outcome will either move the country forward or backward."

For LA REFERENCE PLUS, Monsengwo has called on the Catholic people to make a well-thought-out vote and wise choice, while L'OBSERVATEUR writes, "even though he did not say it clearly, Mgr Monsengwo is in favour of voting the constitution."

While CENCO has not issued clear guidance for the Catholics concerning the vote, LE PHARE refers to contradictions between CENCO and CALCC's (Conseil de l'Apostolat des Laïcs Catholiques) that is clearly against the constitution and calls for the Congolese people to vote "no" on 18 December. Quoting some observers in
Kinshasa
, the paper regrets that "the Catholic church has taken such a position (...) while it should remain neutral."

The paper further wonders why the Congolese people living abroad are in favour of "no". The coordination of the Congolese people living abroad organised a sit-in in Matonge district,
Brussels
. About a hundred Congolese people turned out. Thirty of them braved the freezing cold of the Bastion square, the venue of the meeting while others stayed out of the metro station to relish the heat coming from beneath, notes LE PHARE. They denounced the flaws and gaps in the draft constitution and the electoral process, notably "the absence of a minimum consensus around the text to be submitted for the referendum (...)" and the fact that 99.999% of the Congolese voters "have neither seen, nor read the constitution." Therefore, "All the analysts unanimously describe the text as nothing but a masterpiece," writes the paper.

LE PHARE further publishes an open letter addressed by Ngbanda Nzambo Atumba to the Congolese people. The Special security adviser to late President Mobutu, former Minister of Defence and national leader of the "Alliance des Patriotes pour la Refondation du Congo (APARECO)" urge the Congolese people to vote "against the draft constitution", to "disapprove the legitimization of DRC's occupation (...), to "fight for the sovereignty of our country and its prosperity (...) and to "disapprove the prolongation of the 1+4 architecture." Honoré Ngbanda also denounces a "completely vitiated electoral process from the beginning," the absence of a census of all the Congolese people, and the decision by "suspicious powers behind the electoral process" to impose a "yes," come hell or high water. The leader of APARECO further accuses the Independent Electoral Commission of failing to make a wide scale dissemination of the constitutional text "at least a month ahead of the referendum," whilst the majority of the Congolese people are illiterate.

"I am sure that the majority of the Congolese people would have rejected the draft constitution forthwith after scanning it," writes LE POTENTIEL under the headlines: 2005 Referendum: Extortion of yes from ignorant voters. The paper describes the draft constitution as "a huge heap of inconsistencies," indicating, "They should have told the truth to the Congolese people that the text failed to meet their expectations; it was just meant to end the chaotic transition, and the imperfect constitution was better off than a legal void," writes the paper.

Under the headlines CIAT to Give Verdict on the New Consensus Today, LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES reports on the new negotiations between UDPS, PPRD, MLC and RCD at the initiative of the International Committee to accompany the Transition. The talks were not meant to get UDPS to join the different institutions of the transition, but rather to have it participate in the electoral process, "in order to avoid protests when the results of the votes are published." It appears that UDPS "reportedly preconditioned its participation in the process to the postponement of the constitutional referendum to 15 January 2006 so as to enable other Congolese to get registered." This will enable the population to "get familiar with the draft constitution before the referendum." LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES wonders about "CIAT's verdict when faced with such a dilemma." Barring unforeseen circumstances, CIAT's position will be known at the end of this Tuesday meeting, the paper says.

LA REFERENCE PLUS announces on its front page that the Vice President for Political, Defence and Security affairs and leader of the "Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie (RCD), Azarias Ruberwa is candidate for the presidential elections. "He is the first member of the presidential circle to officially embark on the presidential election," highlights the paper. LE PHARE announces another candidate for the presidential election, the son of the former president of the ex-Zaïre, Nzanga Mobutu.