DRC: next presidential election on December 20, 2023

The announcement of the date, made on Saturday by the Independent National Electoral Commission (Ceni), comes as the east of the country remains plagued by violence from armed groups, including the M23 rebellion which controls part of a territory of the North Kivu.

“The persistent insecurity in certain parts of the territory” is one of the “challenges” to be taken up by the Ceni to organize in time an election which it wants “free, democratic, transparent”, declared its president, Denis Kadima who read the electoral calendar at the seat of the commission.

Experts have also expressed their doubts about a process which they say has gotten off to a “bad start” and risks once again ending up in a disputed election.

In the DRC, the presidential election is a single-round election, coupled with legislative elections as well as elections for provincial deputies and municipal councillors.

The swearing in of the elected president will take place on January 20, 2024, said the Ceni.

President Félix Tshisekedi, who succeeded Joseph Kabila in January 2019 after a controversial election, has already expressed his intention to run again.

Among the other possible candidates is Martin Fayulu, who continues to claim to have won that of 2018 and been deprived of his victory.

- Concerns -

Other potential candidates such as former Prime Minister Adolphe Muzito or former governor of Katanga Moïse Katumbi have not yet made a clear statement.

Former Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo (2012-2016) has for his part announced his intention to run.

Lawsuits against him for alleged embezzlement of public funds, which he disputes, had ended last November, when the Constitutional Court had found that it was not competent to judge him. The way was then clear for him. But the composition of the Court has changed and it now considers itself able to judge him, suggesting a trial.

In a report published in October, researchers from the organizations Groupe d'étude sur le Congo (GREC) and Ebuteli, linked to New York University (NYU), worried about a "poorly embarked process" and a "deficit of confidence" carrying, according to them, risks of "violent protests".

"The political stranglehold persists on the institutions involved in the management of the electoral process", they analyzed.

In the DRC, the results of the presidential election are sometimes violently contested, as in 2006 and 2011, with dozens of deaths as a result.

Other concerns are emerging in the country in view of the renewed tension linked to the rebellion of the "Movement of March 23" (M23), which recently seized large parts of a territory north of Goma, provincial capital. of North Kivu in the east.

The fighting has notably caused the displacement of tens of thousands of people in recent months.

Several diplomatic initiatives are underway to try to bring peace and ease tensions between the DRC and Rwanda, accused by Kinshasa of supporting the M23. A mini-summit this week in Luanda decided on a ceasefire from Friday evening. The front lines seemed calm on Saturday, but the region, used to unfulfilled commitments, remains very skeptical.

This security issue must necessarily be taken into account to guarantee the "inclusiveness" of the ballot, reacted Jonas Tshombela, president of the New Civil Society of Congo.

By announcing the date of December 20, 2023, "the Ceni is trying to convince us that the presidential election will take place within the constitutional deadline, which we already appreciate", he added, promising to "look closely" at this schedule.

Many thought that the government "would use the cause of insecurity" not to organize the ballot, government spokesman Patrick Muyaya told reporters.

According to him, "the electoral material of the Ceni in the territory of Rutshuru has been ransacked, but that does not prevent us from working (...) to allow the process to take place at the same time, at the same pace" everywhere in the country.

In addition, the issue of "election financing is one of the government's priorities", he assured: "on this day, no financial partner has given any dollar. The government for the 2022 financial year will is acquitted today of 80%, minimum, of what he must pay".