DR Congo archbishop urges restraint after election chaos
A voter casts her ballot at a polling station at Bwakya school in Lubumbashi on December 21, 2023. PHOTO/ AFP
What you need to know:
- Election officials struggled to transport voting materials to polling stations on time, some stations were unable to open at all and voting had to be extended into the following day.
The Archbishop of Kinshasa on Sunday called for restraint in his Christmas Mass Sunday evening, following what he described as the "gigantic organised disorder" of last week's general election.
"With enthusiasm, with determination, many of us came out to democratically express our preferences," Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo told the congregation.
"But alas, what should have been a great celebration of democratic values quickly turned into frustration for many," he added.
Massive delays and bureaucratic chaos marred Wednesday's elections to choose the president, lawmakers for national and provincial assemblies, and local councillors.
Election officials struggled to transport voting materials to polling stations on time, some stations were unable to open at all and voting had to be extended into the following day.
The elections were "a gigantic organised disorder," said Ambongo. "You are all witnesses to it."
He also referred to video images showing a woman attacked for having voted for the opposition.
"How can we sink so low?," he said, asking what kind of message such images sent to the world.
Around 44 million people in the nation of 100 million were registered to vote, with more than 100,000 candidates running for various positions. President Felix Tshisekedi, 60, ran for re-election against 18 opposition candidates.
Many of them have denounced the way the election was run, some of them accusing the authorities of "massive" electoral fraud.
While one group of opposition leaders has called for a protest march in Kinshasa on Wednesday, others are pushing for the vote simply to be annulled.
The sheer scale of the DRC -- roughly the size of continental western Europe -- and its dire infrastructure make elections a stark logistical challenge.
Officially, voting ended on Thursday, but one election official in remote parts of the conflict-torn east of the country that some stations were only opened on Saturday.
"For the moment, I urge you to exercise caution and restraint," said Cardinal Ambongo.
On Saturday, the ambassadors of more than a dozen Western nations called for restraint in a joint statement.
