Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 09/2011

Congo: The Electoral Process Seen from the East

September 2011

International Crisis Group

Abstract

"Congo: The Electoral Process Seen from the East", the latest briefing from the International Crisis Group, examines voter registration and the beginning of the campaign on the ground in the Kivu provinces and the Ituri district and highlights the electoral stakes in a region that remains fundamental for durable stability in the country. "The militiamen of the armed groups have not disturbed the voter registration process because they also need the voters' card which serves as an ID document in the Democratic Republic of Congo", says Marc-André Lagrange, Crisis Group's Senior Congo Analyst."However, the surprisingly sharp increase in the electorate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced, lack of dialogue with the political parties and lack of verification by the voters themselves feed latent but widespread suspicions in the opposition and civil society".