By RFIPubliée the 31-12-2018Modified the 31-12-2018 at 20:08

In the aftermath of general elections marked by high participation and many dysfunctions, the time is at the compilation of results in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The operations that began as soon as the polls closed, the night before, continue on Monday, December 31, 2018.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the National Bishops' Conference (Cenco) returned on December 31 on the beginning of ballot counting operations. The Catholic Church relies for the moment on just over 40,000 reports transmitted until 9am this morning by its observers and from as many polling stations.

She reports that at this stage, in 85% of the cases, the ballot boxes were opened in the presence of the members of the polling station, witnesses and observers. But in these offices, less than half of the minutes and result sheets were signed by the members of the office and the witnesses present. And in just under half of the cases, these cards and minutes were given to the witnesses at the end of the counting.

Cenco also regrets that, in some places, the results sheets were not displayed in front of the polling stations, which limits the transparency of the operation. It also notes that in about 500 offices the results from manual counting and voting machines do not correspond, without giving further details.

The Catholic Church also complains that the Electoral Commission (CENI) has difficulty communicating about the location of the 176 local results-compilation centers. In Kinshasa, at 9:00 this morning, she could not locate one. But the Cenco refuses to draw more conclusions for the moment, because it still waits for many reports. Counting continues in the country. Early this morning, in places, in the Congolese capital, we still voted.

" Unassailable " results

The Common Front for Congo (FCC), the outgoing power coalition supporting Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary's candidacy, was also giving a press conference on December 31. The FCC had indicated that it would at least advertise trends for its candidate. There will be no early proclamation of results, which would be against the law, promised Barnabas Kikaya, the diplomatic adviser to President Joseph Kabila and one of the spokesman of the candidate. But the Common Front insists on the arsenal it has put in place to collect the results, along with the Electoral Commission.

The FCC says it relies on one million witnesses across the country. On December 30, late in the evening, he had also invited the press to visit their cell compilation and try to demonstrate, according to him, that their results would be " unassailable ". " Our platform is serene, " said Barnabé Kikaya, who said that the difficulties encountered during the vote are inherent in any electoral process, but not likely to jeopardize this process. He urged the Congolese population to remain calm and await the provisional results of the Electoral Commission announced by 6 January.

The contested Ceni

In the rest of the country, counting operations went late into the night on December 30, because the polls opened late and there was a lot of talk and tension when they closed. . In Kisangani, in the east of the country, some centers had closed, leaving voters in line in the queues. An activist explains that witnesses and voters lobbied to reopen the offices as planned until the voters were exhausted.

This morning, 31 December, the results were therefore published late. In Mbuji Mayi and Mwene Ditu, at 8:30, the results of the offices were still displayed, just as in the east, in Fizi. Most of the display of the results occurred in the early morning except for exception, as in the territory of Walikale, still in the east, according to the deputy of the Union for the Congolese Nation (UNC), Juvenal Munubo. " The minutes were not signed by the witnesses, they were not posted in front of the polling stations, as recommended by the electoral law and they were not physically delivered to our witnesses ," he said. -he. The centers remain inaccessible and they ask all the witnesses to return ".

All the opposition political parties and civil society observation missions denounced obstacles this morning, but for Jean-Pierre Kalamba, the rapporteur of the CENI, there is no conspiracy, just a few bad apples. " As if the Ceni said in one city, be correct, to another do not be correct ," he says. No. The people who were gathered, the opposition, they did not allow our people and our observers [to work]. These are small problems that happen . "

Other issues were reported this morning, such as a Deci decision dated December 29 that qualifies both foreign and nationally printed minutes as valid. However, the Electoral Commission had never said that it intended to print newsletters locally.

This would be due to some lots damaged by bad weather. The Ceni would have printed locally minutes that will be " a little different ", but it ensures in any case that it is not a maneuver to accept the minutes of the machine to vote. Only the minutes in paper format count, ensures the rapporteur of the CENI.

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