The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) in the Democratic Republic of Congo will soon release a provisional list of aspiring candidates for the November 28 general elections.
Reverend Daniel Ngoy Mulunda, chairman of the commission, says he has confidence in the measures implemented so far by the electoral body to organize the vote.
“Preparations are going very well,” he said. “We’ll publish the list of all the candidates hoping that there won’t be a lot of problems or that people will come and see that they have been forgotten especially for the parliamentary election.”
“On the November 27, we will now publish the final list of all the candidates both for presidential and parliamentary elections,” he added.
He said participating political parties have signed a document of good conduct demonstrating their commitment towards ensuring a credible vote.
Some political parties have expressed concern their opponents are breaking electoral rules by launching campaigns far ahead of October 28, the official start of campaigning.
Mulunda said CENI is working closely with political parties to address their concerns.
“We always talk to the political parties; we share we [and exchange ideas] with them. I am happy to announce to you that all the political parties but one have signed the code of good conduct… [It will] allow all of them to see how they can [help monitor and] assist the situation,” he said.
Mulunda said CENI has launched a campaign to educate citizens about the elections.
“We have trained a team [of] 200 people that the commission is going to deploy throughout the country…to call on the people to go to vote,” Mulunda said.
He adds the commission will soon send invitation letters to both local and international poll observers.
CENI recently compiled a list of prospective voters which will soon be unveiled to the public.
“At the end of the month, we will produce the first list [according to voter] districts. We just acquired new printers to print the 32 million on the list,” said Mulunda. “And then one month before the election, when the campaign begins, we have to publish a new list by voting stations. So we are going to publish twice; first for people to correct the information and the other [will be] the final list.”
Mulunda also said CENI is partnering with the international community including the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo [MONUSCO] to ensure a credible election.
