Run-off Elections in DRC
Kabila squares off against Bemba in the final round of voting
Joseph Kabila is expected to become the first democratically-elected president in forty years but he will inherit the mammoth task of rebuilding a war-torn nation
Run-off elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo take place on October 29 after a first round of voting in July failed to produce a leader with 50 percent of the vote. The United Nations (U.N.) has deemed voting "the most important Africa poll since apartheid." Incumbent president, Joseph Kabila, won 45 percent of the first round when voter turn-out was 70 percent. The runner up, and ex-rebel leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba, received 20 percent of the vote. Although Kabila is expect to win the first democratic elections in 40 years, Bemba, one of four current vice-presidents, remains an influential figure in Congolese politics and extremely popular amongst voters in Kinshasa.
Clashes between supporters of both men have sparked fears of further violence. Both candidates have private armies loyal to their cause who have not been afraid to engage in combat. Dozens of people have died in fighting since the July's vote and if it weren't for the presence of 17,600 U.N. troops, the largest peacekeeping force in the world, the body count would be much higher.
Ahead of voting, President Kabila issued an indirect warning to Bemba supporters that there would be a response to any provocation. Despite hostility leading up to this historic day, both men have agreed to accept the results. There are fears, however, that a Kabila victory would unleash a wave of violence and rioting in Kinshasa, a city where he is detested by many who perceive him as a foreigner from the east.
The presidential run-off is intended to be the final stage of a peace process that began after a 1998-2003 civil war devastated the country, already ravaged by decades of kleptocracy under the regime of dictator Mobuto Sese Seko. Recovery for the DRC may last even longer. Since independence in 1960, the Congolese have known little but warfare and terrible leadership. The civil war killed more than 4 million people, mainly through disease and hunger, and left behind a humanitarian catastrophe where 1,200 people continue to die every day despite the fact that the DRC is a mineral rich nation.
Despite their relative youth, both men have long histories in Congolese politics. Kabila, 35, was installed as president after the 2001 assassination of his father, Laurent Kabila, who had seized power from Mobuto. Bemba, 44, is one of the richest men in the DRC and his father was active in politics under Mobuto. But the critics have not been kind. Local media have dubbed the event a choice between "cholera and plague." Results to the polling are expected in three weeks but it will take much longer to see improvements in a country where people have already been waiting far too long.
