Calm prevails in second-round legislative elections

Calm prevailed on Sunday in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo, as voters went to the polls in the second round of nationwide legislative elections. With only a few authorised vehicles allowed on the roads - an effort to inhibit transport of voters among various voting districts to cast multiple ballots - people walked freely in the streets. Soldiers and policemen at intersections throughout the city appeared at ease, a week after a new outbreak of fighting in the capital. By dusk, all vehicles were allowed on the roads again. Voter turnout in several districts was low. In Ouenze and Moungali, two of the city's northern districts that were particularly affected by last week's fighting, officials did not deny that perhaps just 15 percent of those eligible had voted. But an official in Ouenze said just holding the elections at all was an achievement, giving the fighting. "We should congratulate ourselves on having accomplished this much," he said. Results are expected by late Monday or early Tuesday. Early on Friday, residents were awoken by gunfire and shelling in the north of Brazzaville as government forces fought off another assault by Ninja rebels on military installations near the international airport at Maya Maya. At least 10,000 civilians fled, of whom several thousands have chosen to remain in sites for displaced people around the city until this round of elections ends. In the first round of legislative elections held at the start of June, 51 of the available 137 national assembly seats were determined. Candidates must win 50 percent of the vote to be elected. President Denis Sassou-Nguesso's Parti congolaise du travail (the Congolese Labour Party) won 29 of the 51 seats, in an election the government said was marred by foul play and violence. While most disqualifications reportedly favoured this party, affected candidates included the president's brother, Maurice, Finance Minister Mathias Ndzon, and presidential aide Antoinette Nganongo Olou. Since 1998, the country has had a National Transitional Council consisting of 75 non-elected members. It was created to replace the bicameral parliament existing prior to the 1997 civil war. The bicameral parliament chosen in this election, consisting of a National Assembly and a Senate, will replace the council. Unlike the March presidential elections, the European Union did not field a monitoring team for the legislative polls, despite a request from the government to do so. But visits to polling stations in three districts revealed that candidate representatives were allowed to observe the process as voters cast their ballots in secrecy. However, ballot boxes in only one of these three sites were locked. An untold number of otherwise eligible voters were barred from casting their ballot on Sunday because they lacked a national identification card - something which the government has not produced in the last seven years, one resident lamented. "With the turbulence that has plagued this city in recent years, many people have lost their belongings, among them their national identification card," he said. "Plus, many people have reached the legal voting age of 18 in the years that no national identity cards have been produced." He added that ongoing government squabbles over the production of appropriate high-tech identity cards cards also contributed to the morass. Two more rounds of elections still remain. On Sunday 30 June, votes will be cast for municipal and local officials; while on Sunday 7 July,the Congolese will choose their senatorial representation. Fighting erupted in late March when so-called Ninja militias attacked several government military positions in Pool region, north and west of Brazzaville, the government said. However, Ninja representatives have said that the clashes were provoked when they discovered government plans to arrest their leader, the Rev Frederic Bitsangou, alias "Pasteur Ntoumi". All elections in the affected districts of Pool have been postponed until the return of stability and an estimated 20,000 internally displaced residents.