The Democratic Republic of the Congo is located in Central Africa and is the 2nd largest Country in Africa(by area) and the 7th largest in the world(by area)With a population of about 70 Million,it is the 4th most populous country in Africa.DR Congo - a vast country two-thirds the size of Western Europe with huge mineral wealth - gained independence from Belgium on June 30,1960
Since 1960, DR Congo has only had four presidents - only the first and last democratically elected.
Independence President Joseph Kasavubu was toppled in a coup by then army chief Mobutu Sese Seko in 1965.President Joseph Kasavubu Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu stayed in power for more than three decades until he was overthrown by rebel leader Laurent-Desire Kabila, who was assassinated in 2001 and his son, Joseph Kabila, took over to lead a peace process and win elections.
Laurent-Desire Kabila Joseph Kabila
Democratic Republic of the Congo Elections - Nov 28,2011
Voters in the Democratic Republic of Congo lined up at polling stations Monday as the giant country holds its second postwar election.
11 candidates are running for President and more than 18,000 are vying for seats in the 500-member parliament.
Tensions are high after opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi accused President Joseph Kabila of planning to rig the election.(The last election, in 2006, was marred by weeks of street battles led by supporters of the losing candidate, Jean-Pierre Bemba.)
The African Union(AU) is working closely with all stakeholders to ensure that the presidential and parliamentary elections are transparent, free and fair.
Disputed voting reforms expected to favour DR Congo incumbent president Joseph Kabila
A joint sitting of the lower and upper house backed eight changes to the constitution, including a move to reduce the vote to a single round from two -- meaning the next president can be elected without an absolute majority.The measures were passed easily by a show of hands after opposition lawmakers boycotted the sitting as a protest. Out of 504 that voted, 485 were in favour, eight were against and 11 abstained.
The reforms also postpone plans to increase the number of provinces in the country to 26 from 11, an already overdue move to decentralise power away from the government in Kinshasa.Other changes will see the prosecutor's office placed under the Justice Ministry -- a change some argue will undermine its independence -- and give the president the power to call referendums, dissolve provincial assemblies and fire governors.
Democratic Republic of the Congo Elections - Nov 28,2011
With more than 30 million voters, thousands of polling stations and lack of paved roads and basic infrastructure, Congo's elections were a logistical nightmare.Stacks of ballots with long lists of the more than 18,000 people running for 500 parliamentary seats was also a challenge for the nation whose majority citizens don't have access to education.Election officials scrambled to get ballot papers distributed to all 60,000 of the polling stations in the country - which is two-thirds the size of Western Europe and has little transport infrastructure.
The government is in a hurry to hold the vote because incumbent President Joseph Kabila's term expires in the first week of December 2011.
Voters in the Democratic Republic of Congo lined up at polling stations Monday as the giant country holds its second postwar election.
11 candidates are running for President and more than 18,000 are vying for seats in the 500-member parliament.
Tensions are high after opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi accused President Joseph Kabila of planning to rig the election.(The last election, in 2006, was marred by weeks of street battles led by supporters of the losing candidate, Jean-Pierre Bemba.)
The African Union(AU) is working closely with all stakeholders to ensure that the presidential and parliamentary elections are transparent, free and fair.
Joseph Kabila casts his vote at Kinshasa
Etienne Tshisekedi casts his vote
The incumbent President Joseph Kabila is widely expected to win re-election
since the opposition is split among 10 candidates, including 79-year-old Etienne Tshisekedi, a longtime opposition leader of Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) party who is running for president for the first time.
Election Results Postponed
The Independent National Electoral Commission is not in a position to publish the final results on Tuesday Dec 06,2011,but postponed by 48 hours.
Electoral commission staff were still struggling to bring ballots back to central counting points from remote polling stations
Election Results
Joseph Kabila Wins Election
Provisional results published by Congo's election commission handed victory to President Joseph Kabila who won another term with 49 per cent of the 18.14 million votes cast and Longtime opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi trailed with 32 percent of the vote, according to the final tallies released by election commission chief Daniel Ngoy Mulunda.Joseph Kabila is due to be sworn in on 20 December for his second term.
Results must now be approved by the Supreme Court.
Elections 'lack credibility'
Several areas reported "impossibly" high turnouts of 99 to 100 per cent with "all or nearly all" votes cast going to Joseph Kabila
Results from almost 2,000 polling stations in Kinshasa, the heavily pro-opposition capital, and from 1,000 other vote centres nationwide were lost.Together, they represented 850,000 ballots missing from the final tally.
Joseph Kabila has rejected claims that he won elections through widespread rigging. The opposition have announced plans to hold protest marches after rejecting Mr Kabila's victory.
Joseph Kabila Sworn as President
Joseph Kabila was sworn in on Tuesday Dec 20,2011 for a 2nd term as president and took the oath of office at the ceremony, held in a heavily guarded in the presidential compound, in the presence of a few thousand supporters in the capital, Kinshasa.Kabila's inauguration went ahead after the country's Supreme Court upheld his victory in November's disputed presidential election.The government declared a public holiday for the inauguration, while the opposition called for strikes in Kinshasa and other cities.
DR Congo's Opposition Leader Etienne Tshisekedi Holds Own Inaguration Ceremony - Friday Dec 23,2011
Congo's opposition leader held a private ceremony inaugurating himself as president on Friday after police prevented him and his supporters from gathering publicly. This move comes three days after the president was sworn in for a second term.
Thousands flee rebel advance in DR Congo
UN experts have accused Rwanda and Uganda of backing the M23 - a charge both countries deny.
UN peacekeeping spokesman Kieran Dwyer said the organisation was considering using drones for the first time to monitor the fighting.
"Unarmed aerial vehicles, drones for monitoring the movements of armed groups, are one tool we are considering," he said.
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