Interview with Independent Election Commission President Apollinaire Malumalu

The current two-year transition in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is set to end with elections in June 2005, but the fear is that the deadline for the polls will not be met. IRIN raised this and other issues on Monday with the head of the Independent Electoral Commission, Apollinaire Malumalu, during his visit to Brussels, Belgium. Previously Malumalu was a professor of political science at the University of Butembo, in Congo's North Kivu Province. He is now responsible for organising free and fair elections in a country the size of Western Europe. We bring you excerpts of the interview. QUESTION: Will the elections take place in June 2005 as planned? ANSWER: The elections will definitely take place. We are working hard on them. The transitional period is 24 months with a possible extension of six months, which can be renewed once. We are not planning on using the extensions but if we have to, for operational reasons, we will authorise it. Q: So exactly how are you going to hold a census of voters in such a big country with its innumerable logistical problems? A: A census of voters will take into account all infrastructure problems. We are going to create "description centres" where people can come to register freely. This will help us to know whether the public is ready for the elections and it will help us concentrate on people of voting age. Later, there will be a census for the whole population. These description centres will make physical verification possible. We will not need to rely on rough estimates. Q: Exactly how will these description centres be organised? A: There are to be 9,000 centres where people can go: markets, schools and health centres. Each centre will be capable of registering 3,000 voters within two months. We propose that each centre has a staff of four: two to [verify] the identity of voters and two to register them. But for the centres to become operational, it will be necessary to launch a pilot scheme on the promulgation of the electoral law; which I hope will happen in October. After that, we plan to train around 40,000 census takers. Then the final stage will be the actual census that will take two months. That should take us to February or March 2005. Q: What about the election timetable? Will it be respected? A: We are now at a pre-electoral stage that will end with the creation of the electoral lists. The timetable is tied to three factors that we are trying hard to accomplish. First, laws have to be created in three phases: on the census of voters and nationality, on the constitution and referendum and finally on the actual electoral law. The second factor is the timeline. What is the sequence in which the various elections will be held? What electoral system will be used? How will the electoral constituencies be demarcated? These questions will usually be resolved in the electoral law. Third, we have proposed that these essential questions on the elections be the subject of a political discussion and that parliament propose others so that a timetable is set. As we do not have a lot more time, we have proposed that local, parliamentary and presidential elections be held at the same time. If the political players agree, then there will not be much delay in holding the elections. Q: So what is the main obstacle to sticking to the timetable? A: The electoral law poses a problem because in order to vote on it there must be new structures defined in the new constitution. This cannot be done under the present transitional system. But [to create an electoral law] we need to know what the people want: a federal state? a single, but decentralised system? a presidential or parliamentary system? - All this will have a bearing on how the elections are organised. So that is why we have decided to finalise the electoral law after holding the referendum on the constitution. Otherwise we risk holding snap elections [that do not conform to the new constitution]. Q: Who will be able to vote? Is it necessary to wait until the law regarding nationality has been voted on before organising the voter census? A: The law on the census [of voters] is the most important of all because it will help us in physically organising the elections. The law on nationality is relevant when identifying nationals who are eligible to vote. Certainly this law should be voted on before the census takes place, in order to avoid a new crisis. But let's be clear: the census will register people without the slightest bit of discrimination. As soon as they are registered they will each be given a voter card. If the nationality of a voter is contested, the legal department will arbitrate. We are creating mediation units capable of running this service. They will be composed of competent, credible, representative people who have moral authority in their communities. Q: Will refugees and displaced persons be able to vote? A: For people displaced inside the country we will have [registration] centres for them. But for DRC refugees and anyone who is abroad, there will be problems. You cannot organise elections in a country the size of a sub-continent that has serious problems of infrastructure and insecurity and, at the same time, organise voting in other parts of the world. One cannot grasp beyond one's reach. Let us be realistic: first, organise elections inside the country and, should we succeed, that will have already been a step towards better days in the DRC, particularly if it is followed by a culture of good governance and democratisation stronger than the state and society.