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Congolese Presidential Candidates assure South African Government
of their readiness to accept 29 October 2006 Election Results KINSHASA-The
leader of the South African Observer Mission (SAOM) to the Presidential and Provincial
elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Deputy Defence Minister,
Mluleki George has confirmed that both President Joseph Kabila and Vice-President
Jean Pierre Bemba have given him assurances that they will respect the outcome
of the Presidential poll. Deputy Defence Minister, Mluleki George welcomed
their commitment to a peaceful election and added; "We are encouraged by
President Kabila and vice-President Bemba's desire to embrace democracy and uphold
the rule of law in the DRC, especially in the light of the unfortunate events
of 20 August, where innocent lives were lost following the announcement of the
results" The leader of the SAOM, who over the weekend had separate
meetings with the President Kabila and Vice-President Bemba also revealed that;"
Much as there are tensions in the build up to these elections, the DRC-Independent
Electoral Commission chairperson Rev.Apollonaire Malumalu has given us an undertaking
that the elections will go ahead as planned." The two candidates will
contest the second round of the Presidential elections following the 29 July 2006
elections, in which none of the then 33 Presidential candidates managed to secure
an outright majority, (50+1%). President Kabila and vice-President Bemba got the
highest number of votes, though short of the Constitutional requirement, hence
the second round. Meanwhile, the South African government has since Saturday
21 October 2006, deployed 108 observers, involving members of parliament, government
employees, members of civil society (youth and women), business people and a cross-section
of South Africans with experience in observing elections. The SAOM has been
deployed in all the eleven (11) provinces in the DRC to observe the three phases
of the elections; namely; political campaigns, the voting process and the counting
of the ballots. They will return to South Africa on 2 November 2006. Issued
by: Vincent Hlongwane (Spokesperson for the SAOM in the DRC)- +2782 385 1169 South
African Embassy
Kinshasa
Democratic Republic of the Congo 23
October 2006
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