The Study Group on the Congo (GEC) called Thursday, January 7 in a report for far-reaching reforms of the Electoral Commission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, considering it impractical to depoliticize this strategic institution before the 2023 presidential election.
Read also: DR Congo: Félix Tshisekedi buries his alliance with Joseph Kabila
It will be necessary that the president "
Felix Tshisekedi really instills a dynamic of reform of the electoral process or that he has, at least, the will to act in this direction
", notes the GEC, attached to the University of New York, in this report entitled: “
Reform of the Ceni in the DRC.
Necessary safeguards against the impossible depoliticization
”.
According to the report, the depoliticization of the Independent National Electoral Commission (Céni) in the current Congolese political context is "
difficult to achieve, if not impossible
" before the presidential and legislative elections scheduled for 2023. To ensure the integrity of these polls, several reforms are necessary, in particular those related to "
the electoral register, the voting methods, the financing of political parties, electoral disputes and access to the media
", estimates the GEC.
As part of this report, "
despite several reminders to the entourage of the President of the Republic, we have not found an interlocutor in charge of this problem with the Head of State
", affirm these experts.
"
The integrity of [these ballots] depends, among other things, on the establishment of an electoral commission that is truly independent of political contingencies
", but "
the control of this institution, the organizing power of these elections, has become a key stake in conquering or retain power
”in the DRC, explains the GEC.
Experts plead for an “
honest and transparent
”
electoral process
in 2023, in order to free the Ceni from political burdens, after three “
incomplete and controversial
”
electoral cycles
.
The Ceni, whose leaders have reached the end of their mandate since July 2019, is accused by the opposition of having "
manufactured
" results in December 2018, by proclaiming Mr. Tshisekedi the winner of the presidential election, and the political forces of his predecessor Kabila majority in Parliament.
President Tshisekedi then asked that the choice of a new Ceni president "
be conducted in a spirit of consensus, appeasement and in strict compliance with the rules
".
Since July 2020, no progress has been made in the process of appointing new members of the Ceni office who must come from political parties and civil society.
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