PRESS CONFERENCE ON DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO ELECTIONS

 

Briefing correspondents on the recent elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ross Mountain, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for that country, said he was pleased that it would soon be headed by its first democratically elected President in 45 years, Joseph Kabila.

Mr. Mountain was also pleased that the runner-up, Jean-Pierre Bemba, had accepted the result, even after filing a Supreme Court appeal over what he had regarded as irregularities.

He said that few had been confident that warring factions would accept the peaceful inauguration of a new President.  Indeed, the Democratic Republic of the Congo had been the stage for “ Africa’s first world war” -- involving six armies -- only three and a half years ago.  But, high voter turn-out during the three stages of elections had reached as high as 70 per cent in some instances, indicating that the Congolese people were ready for change.

Organizing elections in a country the size of Western Europe had been no mean feat, he added, congratulating the Independent Electoral Commission on that achievement.  Over 25 million Congolese had registered for the elections, which had taken place in three rounds and counted among the largest electoral operations in the world. 

He said the effort had been supported by the largest ever United Nations electoral support operation.  Voting had taken place at 50,000 polling stations across the country, involving 260,000 electoral workers that the United Nations and the Independent Electoral Commission had been responsible for training.  Some 74,000 police had also been trained to provide security during the elections, and over 100 aircrafts had been deployed in that process.

He also paid tribute to a group of African leaders, which, in conjunction with the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, had helped bring together parties that had not been satisfied with the outcome of earlier voting rounds.  The South Africans, especially, had played a strong role both politically and materially.

However, the humanitarian situation in the country remained, in Mr. Mountain’s words, “one of the worst catastrophes in the world”, with 12,000 deaths per day, according to a recent survey undertaken by the International Rescue Committee.  The action plan put in place by the United Nations, in collaboration with non-governmental organizations, political authorities, agencies and local partners had succeeded in reaching 10 million people during the year.  A new plan, launched last week, was expected to reach 14 million people in 2007, amounting to almost $700 million worth of aid.

The success of recent elections was instrumental in encouraging donors to come forward, said Mr Mountain, and would enable the implementation of a major reconstruction programme built on a nationally devised poverty reduction strategy, led by the World Bank and the United Nations.  Some 17 donors were currently involved in that process, which would focus on justice, public and security sector reform, job creation, social services, combating AIDS and engaging in community recovery.

Sounding a note of optimism, Mr. Mountain said that the country’s riches, in the form of minerals, timber and water power, meant that it had the makings of a regional “motor of development” in central Africa.  The international community had a vital continuing role in supporting the Government of the country, whose newly elected President had stressed a desire to tackle corruption.

Responding to reporters, Mr. Mountain said: “The population is fed up with war, that’s the bottom line.”  He added: “It’s not a country with a great tradition of dealing with lost elections and sharing power with the opposition.  But we’re not pessimistic about the next steps.”

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