MONUC Press Review - 8 November 2006 [1]

10 Mar 2009

MONUC Press Review - 8 November 2006

*Original: French

Featuring prominently in today's Kinshasa press is the head-to-head meeting Tuesday between President Joseph Kabila and Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba, who faced each other in a runoff presidential vote on 29 October.

With comprehensive provisional results from the polls still due by 19 November, the two presidential rivals met Tuesday behind closed doors for about "an hour and without any witness being present" at the presidential palace, L'Observateur reports. The paper says that "the two renewed their commitment to respect the verdict of the ballot boxes". It says Kabila and Bemba also "renewed their pledge to respect the various accords signed by their representatives and aimed at guaranteeing a climate of serenity and transparency for the elections which the Congolese people want free and democratic." The two presidential contenders finally "called on the Congolese population to stay calm and to refrain from any acts of provocation," Le Potentiel points out.

According to La Tempête des Tropiques, this Kabila-Bemba meeting "will help ease tensions in the capital, Kinshasa, where fear is beginning to grip the population". Anticipating that this meeting will generate "an atmosphere of peace and national reconstruction," La Référence Plus "congratulates both candidates for showing to the whole world their ability to resolve differences among the Congolese."

With this meeting, Kabila and Bemba sent a strong message that "the Cassandras from both camps should follow [their leaders] and turn away from incendiary speeches and divisive hate-inciting messages [they have been peddling] through the media," according to La Référence Plus.

In other news, Le Phare reports that "inhabitants of Gbadolite are fleeing" the northeastern town in "fear of a new armed confrontation". "Waves of heavily armed integrated troops and police have been arriving in Gbadolite from Kinshasa," explains the paper, adding this is something that locally-based "soldiers in charge of protecting Jean-Pierre Bemba do not see in a favourable light".

Press Reviews 2006 [2]