DR Congo set for presidential elections in December
This week, the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) officially announced that it had registered 26 Presidential candidates, among them President Félix Tshisekedi, who seeks a second term.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is poised for presidential elections scheduled for 20 December 2023.
This week, the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) officially announced that it had registered 26 Presidential candidates, among them President Félix Tshisekedi, who seeks a second term.
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DRC has a complex political landscape with other top contenders including opposition leader Martin Fayulu, former Katanga governor and wealthy businessman Moïse Katumbi, Nobel Peace Prize-winning gynaecologist Denis Mukwege, and former prime minister Adolphe Muzito.
However, there are growing doubts about the country's readiness to conduct these elections within the next seven weeks. There is increasing uncertainty about the election’s feasibility.
CENI President Denis Kadima has said the commission did not have the budget to successfully conduct the election. The war raging in the troubled region of eastern DRC excludes any possibility of any election taking place there, potentially disenfranchising over a million voters.
In the 2018 tumultuous election, Tshisekedi was controversially declared the winner, despite widespread views that Fayulu had won.
On the humanitarian front, the DRC is grappling with a protracted and intricate crisis. The nation has endured decades of conflict, with more than 200 armed groups operating in the eastern part of the country.
A record 6.9 million people are internally displaced within the Democratic Republic of Congo due to escalating violence, according to the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Most of those affected are in the east, with conflict as the primary cause. In North Kivu, a million people have fled their homes this year due to ongoing conflict with M23 rebels.
This crisis is one of the world's largest displacement and humanitarian challenges, warns the UN.
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