Candidates hoping for victory in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s upcoming elections have launched their campaigns.
These campaigns were launched on Thursday as the country gears up for the December 23 election considered very crucial.
It could be the first time DR Congo will witness a peaceful transfer of power through an election.
The ruling party of President Joseph Kabila has picked former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary for the presidential race.
His biggest challenge is expected to come from the opposition which has formed an alliance to pick a unified candidate.
Businessman and lawmaker Martin Fayulu is that representative for the opposition coalition in the December presidential election.
But the opposition is seen as fractured since not all opposition candidates back him.
All candidates confident of a win
Government spokesman Lambert Mende said on Thursday that the ruling party is “sure we will win, by what margin is up to the people. It is enough to look at our adversaries to understand we will win for sure.”
Opposition figure, Fayulu has also returned to Kinshasa for official campaigning. He says priority is for a transparent voting system.
“Our objective is to achieve credible elections, that is elections with paper ballots without voting machines, with a clear and clean electoral list so that … results are in accordance with (the people’s) vote,” he told his supporters.
The head of the electoral commission (CENI) has said that 70 percent of the “kits and electoral material” have reached their destinations. Remaining materials are expected to arrive at other places no later than December 7.
No Kabila
The DR Congo will be going to the polls in December without incumbent President, Joseph Kabila whose tenure has already ended.
President Kabila’s second term officially ended in 2016 but he refused to stepdown sparking violence and delayed elections.
Kabila’s inability to run again could ease tension a little in the Central African country. Joseph Kabila took over as president from his father Laurent who was assassinated in 2001.
Source: Africafeeds.com
