In a tense political environment and against the backdrop of armed conflict in the east, thousands of candidates, including the 26 seeking the presidential office, formally began a month-long election campaign in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Sunday, November 19, 2023.
While President Félix Tshisekedi, who is running for a second term in office, held a series of inaugurations while his team celebrated his accomplishments in a variety of fields, opposition heavyweights wasted no time in rallying their supporters.
From the beginning, Felix Tshisekedi personally oversaw the proceedings, holding a meeting at the Martyrs’ Stadium in Kinshasa, while Martin Fayulu, one of his principal rivals, harassed the demonstrators in a nearby province.
Out of approximately 100 million people, 44 million registered voters will cast ballots to choose their president on December 20. Similarly, over 100,000 candidates will compete in the provincial and local legislative elections.
An unprecedented feat, in the opinion of the Electoral Commission, which is committed to holding the elections on schedule in spite of logistical challenges in a country of about 2.3 million square kilometers with scant infrastructure.
According to a political analyst at the Ebuteli Research Institute, Trésor Kibangula. He said; “There is a political agenda that wants elections to be held on time, but there are doubts about technical capacity.”
Sylvain Lesoye, a priest interviewed in a commune on the outskirts of Kinshasa, believes that “from an organizational point of view, the Céni does not inspire confidence”, referring in particular to the poor quality of voters’ cards, whose inscriptions and photos have faded.
“The Céni knows that this is a challenge it must take up; its credibility is at stake,” says political scientist Jean-Luc Kong. “What’s frightening is the crisis in the east,” he says
The region has been plagued by armed groups’ violence for nearly 30 years. The M23, a former rebellion that received support from neighboring Rwanda and took control of large areas of North Kivu, has returned to the area, bringing the crisis to a peak.
Two of the province’s territories will not be able to vote normally due to the conflict, but the entire process would be jeopardized if Goma, the provincial capital, fell.
Félix Tshisekedi, who had prioritized the restoration of peace, declares that the M23 “will not take Goma” and pledges to construct public buildings and roads, enhance the standard of living for the Congolese people, and uphold press and expression of freedom.
Analysts describe the overall picture as mixed, while the opposition, which presents a dire picture of the situation and immediately accuses organized fraud, calls it catastrophic.
Apart from Martin Fayulu, who feels that his victory in 2018 was stolen from him, the main opposition contenders are two former prime ministers, Dr. Denis Mukwege, the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner for his advocacy on behalf of raped women, and Moïse Katumbi, the former governor of the Katanga mining region.
This week in South Africa, representatives from five of them convened to explore the prospect of a combined candidacy against the front-runner, the incumbent president, particularly in a one-round election.
A coalition was established and a shared agenda was approved, but only by the emissaries of the four contenders since the Fayulu camp declined to participate in the endeavor.
On the importance of voting, opinions differ.
Twenty-year-old Eunice, a geography student, says she is “happy” to cast her first ballot for the candidate she wants to “improve living conditions” with.
Another 24-year-old business computing student, Ezekiel, is disillusioned. He claims that “fraud, just like in 2018,” will occur. Additionally, “I’m not going to waste my time at the voting centre.”Ref: AFP
