Sources close to the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) of the Democratic Republic of Congo revealed this weekend in Washington that the expected elections in DR Congo could, at best, only be held at the end of 2018.
According to this revelation made to the Reuters Agency from the United States, where the CENI President visited earlier this week, this information will be officially announced in the days to come. The same source also indicates that financial and security constraints are mainly two reasons for this new extension.
« Without sufficient [international] support, the preparations for the elections can be extended over an even longer period, eventually bringing the vote back to May or July 2019, » warns the source that entrusts itself to the British agency.
Test ball?
It now appears that the ground from which the future of the electoral process in the Democratic Republic of Congo will emerge is abroad. After the announcement in Paris on July 7 by the President of the CENI of the impossibility of holding elections as provided by the New Year’s Eve Agreement, by the end of 2017, it is in Washington, where would still stay Corneille Nangaa, that takes place which, if confirmed by official sources, could be qualified as a new « test ball ».
Voter registration in the DRC continues in the Kasaï provinces until next December, the last step before the [likely] publication of the electoral calendar, which is eagerly awaited by both national and international opinion.