CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
|
Congo-Brazzaville Reconciliation and elections |
DEMOCRACY
The Inter-Congolese Forum, held from 17 March to 14 April,
opened a new
chapter in Congo-Brazza’s history,
paving the way for multi-party elections
and all that goes to make up a true democracy
In mid-April, a new National Agreement was approved and this will hopefully bring about a final peaceful settlement and the nation’s reconstruction. All the nation’s resources, both within the country and elsewhere must be involved. It’s only then that the election process, which has ground to a halt ever since the start of civil war in 1997, can get going again.
According to the spirit of the National Agreement, the organization of the various elections, the way in which the electoral campaigns are conducted and the proclamation of the results must be peaceful and open. In order to achieve this, the following must take place:
The electoral process
Before the electoral process (in abeyance since 1997) is started, there must be a referendum on the proposed new Constitution. Readers will recall that this proposed new Constitution was originally drawn up by the government and approved with amendments, by those taking part in the Inter-Congolese National Forum. The government must now revise the text, taking into account the amendments submitted by the Inter-Congolese Forum. The amended text will then be put to the National Transition Council (Transition Parliament) in May 2001 for its approval. Sources close to the government indicate that the final stage, the referendum on the new Constitution, could take place in June 2001, followed by presidential elections in December 2001 and parliamentary elections in 2002.
Elections in Congo-Brazza are frequently accompanied by a certain amount of social upheaval. In 1993, following the first round of anticipated parliamentary elections, the results were hotly contested by the Opposition which complained of «irregularities and monstrous fraud». Then came violence, protests and gunfire in the streets of Brazzaville. Ngami is a legal expert. He says: «As things stand at present, the future Electoral Commission seems to differ from the Commission which supervised the polls in 1992-1997. This Commission had vast power — for instance, it drew up the electoral roll and counted the number of votes cast in the elections. Such is not presently the case. The future Electoral Commission will not be able to organize the drawing up of voters’ lists — this will be the prerogative of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration of the National Territory».
Impact
Every effort must be made to ensure that the future elections are well conducted. To this end, the Opposition outside the country, represented by Augustin Poignet’s (a former prime minister) Patriotic Front for Dialogue and Reconciliation, presented President Nguesso with a number of suggestions relating to the setting-up of a new transition period (as decided by the Inter-Congolese Forum), the appointment of a Prime Minister, the formation of a broadly-based government of national unity and a general amnesty law.
But the idea of general amnesty was immediately rejected by the President’s supporters. They said that in 1999, Sassou Nguesso had already granted conditional amnesty to a number guerrillas who renounced violence and agreed to lay down their arms. «We’re not going to repeat that act of clemency», forgetting they’d already accepted in their ranks a number of exiles who’d accepted the principle of dialogue.
In any event, national dialogue has opened the way for the electoral process. The people of Congo-Brazza are concerned about their nation’s future, so much so, that they were prepared to discuss this issue for nigh on one month.
However, at the time of writing, nobody has registered as a candidate in the presidential election — not even the current Head of State, Denis Sassou Nguesso. André Milongo, former Prime Minister has said he intends to take part in all the elections which will be organized in Congo- Brazza.
Towards reconciliation
The Inter-Congolese Forum has made reconciliation possible. It has also paved the way for a new beginning. Dialogue must be an on-going process. An opposition member who has just returned from four years’ exile in France, puts it this way: «Because a number of commitments have been made, it’s clear the electoral process will never be the same. Anything likely to destroy the so-recently restored peace, is definitely a non-starter. And another adds: «With the experience of dialogue behind them, political parties will once again assume their correct role — to peacefully request the electorate to vote for them». From what’s been happening, Congo’s students have drawn a very simple conclusion: «Let’s end these interminable transitions, especially when they can be easily “fixed”; let’s have a true democracy where the people choose their own representatives».
Congo-Brazza has experienced a decade of what was euphemistically called «preparing for democracy», and what happened? Bloody fratricidal wars. Now the country has once again a meeting with destiny. Our people are now able to come together as equals, to thrash out solutions to the problems which undermine their nation. But there is one sad note. The main opposition leaders in exile have been absent from the work of national dialogue. Truth to say, they haven’t endeared themselves to the government because they seem to have made little effort to meet the present government halfway.
ENGLISH CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
PeaceLink 2001 - Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgement