Sunday’s presidential election in the Democratic Republic of Congo is now likely to be postponed by at least a week after the electoral commission told candidates it would not be able to hold the poll on time.
The run-up to polling day, which is already two years behind schedule, has been marred by deadly violence, obstruction of opposition campaigning and a fire in a Kinshasa warehouse in which some 7,000 touchscreen voting machines are said to have gone up in flames.
On Thursday at least three candidates received a text message from the election board saying that it was “technically unable” to organise the ballot on time, according to Reuters.
The delay threatens to inflame an already tense situation in the western European sized country, many of whose nearly 50m registered voters suspect the government is preparing to rig the poll. The voting devices purchased from a South Korean company are so controversial, one opposition leader called them “cheating machines” and up until a few days ago had advised his supporters not to use them.
After intense pressure for him to go, Joseph Kabila is due to step down as president after 17 years in power, but his administration has used all the levers of incumbency to ensure that his chosen successor Emmanuel Shadary is elected. Mr Shadary has a 400-strong campaign team and has been able to visit all 25 provinces in the country during the campaign.
By contrast, on more than one occasion, a plane belonging to one of the two main opposition candidates — Martin Fayulu and Felix Tshisekedi — has been prevented from landing in government strongholds, forcing them to cancel planned campaign rallies.
On Wednesday, police fired tear gas into crowds in Kinshasa who were protesting against a decision by authorities to stop Mr Fayulu from holding a rally in the capital, where Mr Kabila is hugely unpopular.
The logistics of holding an election in the vast country, much of it covered in rainforest and accessible only by plane, helicopter, motorbike or boat has stretched an administration that has thrived more on chaos than efficient organisation.
Compounding the difficulties are militant insurgencies in the east of the country, an Ebola outbreak in North Kivu province, and widespread suspicion that Mr Kabila has no intention of bowing out from politics.
Analysts said there was a danger that, if the election process drifts further, some of the big opposition strongholds could erupt in violence. The country has witnessed many mass demonstrations, many of them dealt with by deadly police shootings, in the two years since Mr Kabila was originally meant to have stepped down according to constitutional limits.
Speaking of his suspicions that Mr Kabila’s administration was preparing to steal the ballot, Hans Hoebeke, senior analyst for Congo at the Crisis Group, said: “Shadary will win. The question is will they get away with it. There have been moments when I haven not called this an election, but an elaborate appointment process of a successor.”
