At a press conference held Tuesday in Kinshasa, the Synergy of Citizen Election Observation Missions (SYMOCEL) released its final report covering the period before, during and after the December 20 elections that led to the installation of the current institutions of the DRC. Its Electoral Observation Mission (MOE), deployed in the country’s 26 provinces, listed a total of 70 salient facts relating to the electoral register, the registration of candidates and the conduct of the electoral campaign.
In its report consulted by ACTUALITÉ.CD, the MOE SYMOCEL observed, during the campaign period, the use of state resources, the rise of hate speech, tribal and xenophobic speech, unequal access to official media, the obstruction of the freedoms of movement and speech of opposition candidates with loss of human lives, etc. During the registration of candidates, this structure noted the timid organization of primaries by civil society; the denunciations, within political parties, of the lack of transparency in the designation of several candidates, of nepotism, regionalism and clientelism; the low rate of applications from women, young people, indigenous pygmy peoples and other minorities; the regular filing and processing of applications for the presidential election; the disputed and problematic filing and reception of applications for other elections; the respect of the principle of freedom and equal opportunities between candidates for the presidential election by the Constitutional Court; the irregular invalidation of certain candidacies in the gubernatorial elections before the courts of appeal, against a backdrop of influence peddling by political parties and others.
During the electoral register operation, moreover, MOE SYMOCEL listed salient facts such as the frustration of many citizens who wanted to identify themselves and register but were unable to do so; disappointment with the enthusiasm and mobilization of the population; the overwhelm of the CENI by logistical challenges as well as the absence of fusion between the census of the population by ONIP and the identification and registration of voters by the CENI, as was planned.
This report of more than 60 pages was handed over to the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), present during its presentation to the press on Tuesday in Kinshasa. The CENI, which promised to take it into account among others for the evaluation of the past electoral process, congratulated the MOE SYMOCEL for the efforts made. The electoral observation structure, for its part, claims to have acted to help the authorities refine strategies with a view to offering the country good elections.
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2024-08-29 13:08:09
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