Page 17 - DIVA_4_2006_No.27

cation, so to register a per- spective, to suppoit the
son needed five people to Coininission we obviously
attest that they were who needed to find the resour-
they said they were. The ces, to provide the tecl'ini-
registration process invol- cal support and, indeed, on
ved equipment that weigh- the actual day to pay some
ted 85 kilos, including a 260,000 electoral workers
computer, digital cameras and some 74,000 police in
and means of taking finger a coru'ihy which has no
pits. To this, of course, b anks and no reliable
you had to add a generator means of payinent. So it
and fuel for the generator. was quite a logistical exer-
If you ran out of ink for the cise. For this operation the
ptinter or of cards for the mission had the use of 100
voters, you could not nu'i aircraft, including helicop-
down to the local store to ters. The results of these Soldiers from tlie United Nations Organisation Mission iri
buy some more. elections have just been the Democratic Republic of tJie Corigo (MONUC) watching
Everytl'i'ig liad to be airlif- ginounced. For the presi- over a camp of iyiterrially displaced people (IDPs) in Ituri,
tlie north-eastern regiori of tlie Democratic Republic of the
ted in. We were veiy plea- dential elections, which
Corigo (DRC). (c IRIN
sed with the result and we eveiybody had been
felt that tlffs exemplified concentrating on, no candi- months. You cannot build iiwolved in traiiiing pro-
the entliusiasm of tlie date obtained the required or rebuild a countiy on the grainines in both of these
population to move ahead 50% + 1. It is essentially basis of dead bodies, and areas, wliere tlie rule of law
after so many years of inis- based on the French electo- that remains a veiy impor- needs to be re-established.
i'iile. ral system, whicli meaiis tant dimension. A reliable and effective
that we now have two can- public sei'vice also needs to
We were first involved didates in a riu"i-off that will The DRC has been for so be put back in place, as
with a nation-wide referen- talce place at the end of long a "non-place". well as, of course, employ-
dui'n on a Constitution that October. Unfortunately, with tlie ment opportunities, a
few people in the countiy exception of a couple of liealtli system and so on.
liad ever seen, but tl'iey did For the NationalAssembly, coruitries and institutions, We are in tlie process of
know tliat they had to we are receiving the results nobody believed that any- working witli Congolese
adopt tlie Constitution at tlie present time. I tliink thing useful could be counterparts and donor
before going on to the next tliat over 60% liave now achieved. We liope that tlie orgai'iizations to see wliat
phase-tlie election. Over beei'i elected and will be elections, and the eiillru- kiird of iininediate results
two-tlmds of tlie popula- aiuiounced in the course of siasm sliown by tlie popu- can be acliieved by tlie
tion turned out and aii over- the comiixg weeks. We are lation for tl'ie elections, will goveriunent. We are
whelming 82% voted in moviiig aliead well. encorirage the ii'itei'national concemed that tlie popula-
favour of the Constitution. coininunity to be more tion will liave too great
The first election then took Meanwhile, liowever, tliere foitbcoming both on tlie expectations after tliese
place at tl'ie end July 2006 is no doubt tliat at the hui'nanitariaii and, indeed, elections, aiid it is therefore
to decide two thiiigs: tlie moment the DRC repre- tl'ie reconstruction side. We impoitaiit that the govern-
clioiceofpresident; andthe sents one of the worst haye launched an liui'nmii- ment cai'i demonstrate that
composition of tl'ie liumanitai'ian catastroplies tarian appeal for some tliere is value in the demo-
National Assembly. The anywhere ii'i the world. US$700 million, of wliicli cratic process. It must
presidential election l'iad we liave received aborit sl'iow tlie population that
thirty-tbree candidates, and A study cai'ried orit by the US$240 million at the pre- tlieirs lieves will be iinpro-
tlie National Assembly liad American NGO, tlie sent time. Mucl'i more is ved.
9,700 caiididates for 500 International Rescue needed to address tliese
seats. In Kinsliasa the bal- Coini'nittee, publislied in needs. Havii'ig said that, tl'ie DRC
lot was six pages long with tlie Bi'itisli medical jouanal is not a corintiy that will
some 800 candidates for The Lancet, sliows tliat But we must add to the need assistaiice forever. It
seventeen seats. Tlie voting tliere are 1,200 people raiige of tl'iings to be done. lias iininense inineral aiid
took place at 50,000 votii'ig dying eveiy day in DRC, Tlie DRC, after so many timber wealtl'i. Tlie dilem-
stations across tlie cormhy beyond wliat would be tlie years of neglect and misru- ma lias been that, on tliis
iii 12,000 different locali- noi'inal expectation of mor- le, is in a situation wliere liuge and extremely rich
ties. tality. So tl'iat meai'is a loss the ai'iny and the police laiid, we find one of the
of life equivalent to tlie need to be completely poorest populations of the
From a United Nations per- Asian Tsruiaini eveiy five refoi'ined. We liave been world. Tlie benefits of

5 2006 Diva 15

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