26 10 11 Carter Center Calls for Urgent Steps by DRC's Election Commission to Prepare for Nov. 28 Elections
"There are serious threats to
holding the election on Nov. 28 that must be addressed now," said David Pottie,
associate director of the Carter Center's Democracy Program. "The Carter Center
hopes that this report will call attention to these issues and spur key actors
to action so that credible elections can be held."
Important Carter Center
findings include that the Independent National Election Commission (CENI) must
take rapid and convincing steps to ensure the transparency and credibility of
the voter register; to ensure the timely distribution of all necessary election
materials across the country, as well as other associated scheduling and
logistical tasks; and to provide additional resources to implement civic and
voter education in advance of election day.
The Center also noted that
serious incidents of intimidation and violence have occurred during campaigning
and urged CENI, presidential candidates, and party members to renew good faith
efforts at communication and respect for the laws and procedures of the
elections. The DRC is a large and fractured country with a violent past and
present; failure to recognize this context, or worse, to exploit it for
electoral gain, will undermine the possibility of genuine democratic
elections.
The full report is available
at www.cartercenter.org and includes the following key
recommendations.
The Carter
Center calls on the Congolese government:
- To direct necessary resources to the
National Congolese Police to guarantee the security of the electoral process,
particularly during the deployment of sensitive electoral material, on election
day throughout the 62,000 polling stations and during the tabulation
process; - To provide the CENI with adequate financial
means to accomplish its activities, especially under a tight electoral
calendar; - To allocate funding to the CSAC for it to
establish a separate office, independent of the RTNC;
and - To improve the capacity of the Supreme
Court.
The Carter
Center strongly encourages the CENI:
- To maintain a permanent communication
mechanism with parties as partners in the electoral process by re-instituting
the party political forum to meet on a regular
basis; - To share plans for deployment of election
results to tabulation centers; - To dramatically increase voter education
efforts, especially in areas of most need in rural areas of
country; - To increase access and transparency
concerning the National Transmission Center
(CNT); - To select suitable polling stations that
allow members to conduct their work with sufficient space for voters, party
witnesses, and domestic and international
observers; - To recruit more women, as stipulated in
Article 10 of the CENI's governing statute, especially to serve as polling
station presidents; - To place emphasis on clear procedures to be
followed consistently between polling stations during polling station worker
trainings, which includes disseminating procedures in a clear, accessible form,
such as a pocket-size guide, to relevant actors, including workers, political
party witnesses, and observers; - To facilitate accreditation of
international and domestic observers and party witnesses;
and - To develop contingency plans if an election
date delay becomes necessary. Should a delay be required, CENI should consult
with presidential candidates, political parties, and international partners to
ensure that the reasons are clearly defined and a detailed plan and budget is
presented to achieve a realistic date.
The Carter Center was invited
to observe the 2011 presidential and legislative elections by the CENI and in
August established an office in Kinshasa and deployed 10 long-term observers to
seven provinces: Kinshasa, Bas-Congo, Oriental Province, North Kivu, South Kivu,
Katanga, and Kasai Oriental. In September, the Center deployed another 10
long-term observers to the remaining provinces. Current Carter Center observers
represent 15 nationalities. In November, they will be joined by an additional 40
observers to monitor events in the days before the election and the entire vote
tabulation process.
The Carter Center and its
observers appreciate the good will of stakeholders at the local and national
levels with whom we have met, including CENI, political parties, presidential
and legislative candidates, civil society groups, domestic observers, voters,
and media organizations in gathering observations of the electoral process. The
Center is also partnering with Congolese national organizations to advance
domestic observation efforts through its Human Rights House. The Center's
observation mission is conducted in accordance with the Declaration of
Principles for International Election Observation and Code of Conduct that was
adopted at the United Nations in 2005 and has been endorsed by 37 election
observation groups. The Center assesses the electoral process based on the DRC's
national legal framework and its obligations for democratic elections contained
in regional and international agreements.
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"Waging
Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope."
A
not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to
improve life for people in more than 70 countries by resolving conflicts;
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nations to increase crop production. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by
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worldwide