DRC election panel ‘may postpone vote for a week’

Elections in Democratic Republic of Congo may be postponed for a week, a senior electoral official has told AFP, after electronic voting machines were destroyed in a suspected arson attack on a warehouse last week.

The official, from the Independent National Election Commission (CENI) but speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday that both the presidential and legislative polls could be delayed.

President Joseph Kabila is scheduled to step down after nearly 18 years in power following the elections – which are already two years overdue.

Nearly 8 000 of some 10 000 voting terminals for the capital Kinshasa were destroyed in the warehouse blaze last Wednesday, according to CENI.

Around 11% of the country’s 44 million registered voters live in the city.

Opposition candidates last week suggested the government could have been behind the fire, to use as a pretext to again delay the vote.

A “seven-day postponement” is being discussed, the CENI official said on Wednesday, as efforts are made to obtain replacement machines.

“We are not going to ask for anyone’s opinion, even that of the head of state,” the source insisted, adding that a formal decision may be announced on Thursday.

Source : AFP