AFRICA : DEM. REP. CONGO : CARDINAL CALLS ELECTIONS UNFAIR

CISA REPORT: KINSHASA, December 13, 2011 (CISA) -The Catholic archbishop of Kinshasa Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo, on Monday December 12, condemned election results that handed DR Congo President Joseph Kabila a new five-year term after polls that have been sharply criticised by observers.

According to AFP reports the cardinal said, “The results announced by the CENI (Independent National Electoral Commission) on December 9 comply with neither truth nor justice.”

The CENI said that Kabila had won the polls with 49 percent of the vote. Runner-up Etienne Tshisekedi, who took 32 percent, rejected the result and declared himself president.

International election monitors from the Carter Center, a non-profit group founded by former US president Jimmy Carter, said the counting process was so flawed the result lacked credibility.

Cardinal Monsengwo appealed to Tshisekedi and the other 10 defeated presidential candidates to take their grievances to the Supreme Court, a move Tshisekedi has rejected.

He called on the court, which is charged with hearing election disputes and declaring the official winner on December 17, to act impartially.

The cardinal further said that the court “is called by all Congolese people to say what is really right.”
http://www.cisanewsafrica.com/

Comments