Congolese people were eagerly expecting even a partial result of the constitutional referendum yesterday; unfortunately the national television which already organised a program on the referendum, "informed at 23 h, that the results will published on Monday afternoon," says FORUM DES AS under the headline: Referendum: suspense continues. "The electricity breakdown that occurred yesterday evening across
Kinshasa
was probably the cause of the postponement," writes the paper. The headlines in L'OBSERVATEUR and LE POTENTIEL read: Suspense persists; Malu-Malu maintains suspense.

According to LE POTENTIEL, the head of the Independent Electoral Commission, Apollinaire Malu-Malu, did not want to "manipulate statistics due to some province and urban-related particularities (...and) preferred "to wait until all the ballots are counted." The results of the polls are rather expected this Tuesday evening, confirms LA REFERENCE PLUS. The publication of the results was postponed for the purposes of "safeguarding the electoral integrity," explains the Head of the Independent Electoral Commission, echoed by the paper.

LE PHARE already refers to "indirect verdict" of the constitutional referendum, under the headline: DR Congo split into two. "The turnout which was particularly low in
Kinshasa
and mixed in Bas-Congo was rather high in the Eastern provinces, notably in Province Orientale, both Kivus and Maniema. Both Kasaï, for their part, boycotted the polls beyond anyone's expectation. This also applies to the towns of Kikwit, in Bandundu, and Mwene Ditu, Ngandajika, Lukalaba...in Kasaï Oriental," says the paper.

LA REFERENCE PLUS refers to a "dull climate" in Mbuji-Mayi, the stronghold of the "Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social (UDPS)," led by Etienne Tshisekedi, one of the key political opponents, who called for the boycott of the constitutional referendum. Mbuji-Mayi was almost "a ghost town Sunday," highlights the paper, noting that "polling stations were desperately empty the whole day long; there were very few voters and one could see electoral staff dozing in their seats." The paper also reports attempts to intimidate the population to prevent them from voting and "reliable witness" accounts of "people ordering through public telephone boot the ransacking of polling stations in Mbuji-Mayi that were not protected by police officers." Sustained firing was heard around 4 a.m. in the town, "throwing the town in panic." LA REFERENCE PLUS is therefore not surprised of the "low rate of the turnout."

LE PHARE draws four lessons from the last Sunday referendum: Firstly, it deplores the confusion and logistic problems encountered; secondly, it stigmatises the lack of a sensitization campaign, manipulation of ignorant and illiterate people having no knowledge of the content of the draft constitution. Just a few examples: in Mbuji-Mayi, the man/woman parity advocated by the draft constitution was interpreted by the local population as authorisation to women "to have more than two husbands just like men;" in Goma, the local population think, "the new constitution authorizes them to expulse foreigners"; in Matadi, "the local population voted against the constitution to punish the governor." In the district of Selembao,
Kinshasa
, a female voter asked another one to show her "Mr. Referendum's picture," reports LE PHARE. All this is proof that "there was no sensitization campaign."

Thirdly, says the paper, even if the "Yes" wins, "the No and the boycott votes, put together, represent a scathing denial/disowning of the authorities and a discredit of the electoral process by the population," and fourthly, the need for resolving the split of the country into two, "the leaders of the 3rd Republic risk representing only part of the country with the people who voted for the constitution." This leads to predict "continued legitimacy crisis that may last longer than expected."

"Encouraged by a high turnout," Louis Michel comes to kick start the Transition, announces FORUM
DES AS.
The European commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Assistance arrived in
Kinshasa
Monday evening. "With 149 million euros donated, the European commission is the first contributor to the DRC electoral process," writes LA REFERENCE PLUS.

Kinshasa
also comments on the verdict of the International Court of Justice of
The Hague
in the dossier versus Democratic Republic of Congo.
Kampala
is condemned, L'AVENIR is jubilant. Condemned, Uganda is obliged to pay billion dollars compensations to the DRC, headlines FORUM DES AS, referring to it "as an overwhelming victory," quoting charges against Kampala: "established aggression, occupation of the DRC territory in defiance of the International law, which is a violation of DRC sovereignty, plundering and destruction of the DRC ecosystem." The paper quotes some observers as expressing hope that "Paul Kagame of will as well be condemned with the same harshness for occupying the DRC territory."