Amid
Congo
Election
"Chaos," US
Rice
"Concerned"
But Says UN Is
Not Key, Up to
Congolese
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 28 --
With election
problems
including
killings
from Kasai
through
Katanga,
Kinshasa to
South Kivu,
Inner City
Press
late Monday
asked US
Ambassador
Susan Rice
about charges
the UN and
its envoy
Roger Meece
are acting
biases for
Joseph Kabila,
and if the
elections are
up to snuff.
Rice
replied that
"we're
concerned by
reports of
violence and
indeed some
deaths today
in various
parts of the
country...
This election
was conducted
by the
Congolese at
their
insistence. It
was not, like
the prior
election, one
that was in
effect
organized and
orchestrated
by the United
Nations. The
United Nations
does not have
a central role
either in the
conduct of the
election or
even the
certification
of these
elections."
Congolese
sources
say that
opposition
figure Etienne
Tshisekedi,
who asked for
UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon to
remove Meece,
is most
concerned that
the
international
community will
"rush to
certify"
Kabila
as the winner.
(c) UN Photo
UNSC in
DRC 2010: DPR
Pankin, Brooke
Anderson,
Mayr-Harting,
Rugunda, Doss,
Apakan, et al
Rice
continued,
"we think it's
very important
for the
Congolese to
respect the
processes that
have been
provided by
the electoral
authorities,
to refrain
from violence,
and we hope
that when the
situation
clarifies that
the disturbing
reports we've
heard today
will prove to
be the
exception
rather than
the rule. But
we need to
wait and see."
Again,
Congolese
sources have
marveled that
even donors to
the electoral
process have
remained
silence as
campaigning
was banned and
other
irregularities
multiplied.
How far will
it go? Watch
this site.
From
the
US Mission
transcript:
Inner
City
Press: How
about the
Congo
elections?
There have
been a lot of
reports of
ballots not
being
delivered, of
polling places
being
burned.
There's been
some question
of the UN's
objectivity. I
wonder
do you think
it's been up
to standards
given how much
the UN--its
presence
there. What
does the U.S.
think of the
conduct of the
Congolese
elections?
Ambassador
Rice:
Well obviously
we're
concerned by
reports of
violence and
indeed some
deaths today
in various
parts of the
country. We're
concerned
about reported
anomalies in
the conduct of
the election,
which we hope
will prove to
be relatively
isolated. But
I think it's
important for
everyone to
remember that
this election
was conducted
by the
Congolese at
their
insistence. It
was not, like
the prior
election, one
that was in
effect
organized and
orchestrated
by the
United
Nations.
The
United
Nations does
not have a
central role
either in the
conduct of
the election
or even the
certification
of these
elections.
That
said, we think
it's very
important for
the Congolese
to respect the
processes that
have been
provided by
the electoral
authorities,
to
refrain from
violence, and
we hope that
when the
situation
clarifies
that the
disturbing
reports we've
heard today
will prove to
be the
exception
rather than
the rule. But
we need to
wait and see.
, 
