“Ballot Collision”: A crisis clouds the elections of Africa’s second-largest country
Is a new crisis brewing in Africa? The Democratic Republic of Congo stands on the brink of a new conflict following extended voting in a general election rejected by the opposition.
Voters in the Democratic Republic of Congo continue to cast their votes on Thursday, the second day of a “chaotic and sometimes violent” general election. The authorities extended voting hours in polling stations that did not open on the previous day, according to AFP.
Elections in the second-largest country in Africa witnessed chaos on Wednesday due to delayed delivery of voting materials in several areas and technical issues. Voters also faced difficulties in finding their names in the registers, while violence led to chaos in other places.
Five presidential candidates rejected the decision to extend voting by the election commission and called for a rerun of the elections.
This not only puts the legitimacy of the future administration at stake but also raises concerns because electoral conflicts in Congo often lead to violent disruptions with long-term consequences.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is the world’s third-largest copper producer and the largest producer of cobalt, a key component in batteries necessary for the green transition.
Speaking to journalists in the capital Kinshasa after the closure of polling stations on Wednesday, the head of the election commission, Denis Kadima, admitted that many polling stations across the country opened late, and some did not open at all. He stated that the delays would not affect the credibility of the process.
In a joint statement late Wednesday, the five opposition candidates, including prominent contender Martin Fayulu and Nobel laureate Denis Mukwege, stated that the commission had no constitutional or legal authority to extend the voting. They called for the “reorganization of these failed elections by an electoral committee with a different structure” and at a mutually agreed-upon date.
The disturbances on election day followed a campaign marked by political violence and repeated warnings from the opposition and observers about the lack of transparency. These disturbances raise fears of a political crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, adding to problems with elections in other African countries in recent months, some of which escalated into military coups in countries in the African Sahel.
