Agenzia Fides REPORT - "The elections were held, but in an almost generalized disorder," says to Fides Fr. Loris Cattani, a Xaverian missionary, an attentive observer of the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where on November 28 presidential and legislative elections were held (see Fides 29/11/2011). "In many polling stations electoral material was lacking from ballots to vote to the polls, while many voters did not find their names in the lists displayed at the entrance of the polling station allocated to them, and they had to seek the one in which they were enrolled," says Fr . Loris. "For this reason polling stations with no ballot boxes and ballot papers that were unable to open on Monday, November 28, the election was extended to yesterday, November 29. I do not know exactly how many polling stations were found in this situation, but they are scattered throughout the Congolese territory, from the capital Kinshasa to Katanga and South Kivu".
The first official results will be published in early December, but already the Africa Union and the European Union have launched appeals for the results of the vote to be accepted by all candidates. Fr. Loris agrees that "the problem now is to see if the results are accepted by all candidates. The election observers have in fact found several irregularities. One needs to establish whether this is due to irregularities caused by delays, organizational difficulties and technical and logistical errors, or if it is deliberate fraud. There have been reports of already voted ballots in favor of a particular candidate, but investigation still needs to be carried out to verify these facts", concludes Father Loris. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 30/11/2011)
The first official results will be published in early December, but already the Africa Union and the European Union have launched appeals for the results of the vote to be accepted by all candidates. Fr. Loris agrees that "the problem now is to see if the results are accepted by all candidates. The election observers have in fact found several irregularities. One needs to establish whether this is due to irregularities caused by delays, organizational difficulties and technical and logistical errors, or if it is deliberate fraud. There have been reports of already voted ballots in favor of a particular candidate, but investigation still needs to be carried out to verify these facts", concludes Father Loris. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 30/11/2011)
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