European Union to send election observers

The European Union announced on Tuesday that it would send a team of 44 election observers to the Republic of Congo (ROC), due to hold presidential elections next month.

"The purpose is to increase the transparency of and confidence in the election process through the presence and reporting of international observers. The Commission also hopes that an EU Election Observation Mission can help defuse tension before, during and after election day, and deter possible election-related malpractice and violence," the EU said in a statement.

"Elections are widely perceived as a source of conflict," the statement added.

The EU Election Observation Mission is composed of a core team of six, based in the capital, Brazzaville, with a combination of electoral, legal, media and statistical expertise. In addition, 18 long-term observers would be deployed throughout the country later this week to observe the election campaign, administrative procedures, as well as the post-electoral period at local level, the EU said. A further 20 short-term observers will be deployed to follow the last days of the campaign, as well as polling and counting.

Meanwhile, the electoral commission in the ROC pledged on the same day that the elections would be held in complete transparency, and called for a peaceful election campaign, AFP reported.

"The commission offers candidates and electors its pledges to guarantee transparency and regularity in the election by implementing clearly the laws of the republic," AFP quoted the body’s chairman, Charles Emile Apesse, as saying.

At the weekend, the Congolese government rejected opposition charges of irregularities in the campaign, AFP reported.

Presidential, legislative and municipal elections are scheduled for March 10, May 12 and June 9 respectively.

President Denis Sassou-Nguesso, who took power in a 1997 coup d’etat, announced his candidacy on 10 February. Eleven other candidates declared their intention to run for the presidency, but two were subsequently disqualified by the ROC supreme court for defaulting on a compulsory payment of 5 million francs CFA (US $6,756) to the interior ministry, as laid down by article 48 of the electoral law.