DRC elections: Increase citizen ownership through civic education and election observation
- Detalles
- Categoría: Actualidad en inglés
- Publicado el Viernes, 20 Mayo 2011 12:54
EurAc, the advocacy network of European NGOs for Central Africa, has always supported elections in Congo in its lobbying, and it contributed to the free and transparent character of the 2006 elections by sending two teams of 120 international observers who worked together with the activists and members of partner associations from Congolese civil society.
There has been much activity in recent months, including a revision of the Constitution. While the parliamentary majority argued that the revision was necessary for financial reasons and as a means of helping to form more stable coalition in the new legislature, the opposition objected on the grounds that this was essentially a strategy for shutting down political space in order to increase the incumbent’s chances for re-election. The democratic and transparent character of the forthcoming elections will depend on a number of issues being clarified, including:
the independence of the CENI
the contents of the electoral law and the way in which the revision takes shape
the setting up and work of the Conseil Superieur de l’Audiovisuel
security around the elections and the degree to which the opposition is free to travel and to run its campaign
the independence of the Constitutional Court
Our visits to the field cause us to fear that the people will not be effectively mobilised for these elections. They do not really feel concerned about them, having been disappointed by the minimal effect of the results of the 2006 elections on their everyday lives. People will certainly go and register. In a country where official identity documents have not been issued for many years, a voting card is an important document. It is our fear, however, that a large percentage of the electorate will not see any reason to vote, given the disappointment after the 2006 elections in which they took part very enthusiastically.
Le Congo ne sortira jamais de la précarité si l’Etat congolais n’est pas renforcé, y compris dans ses instruments pour garantir l’Etat de droit et la bonne gouvernance.
The Congo will remain fragile unless the state is strengthened, including its instruments to guarantee rule of law and good governance. The elections can only contribute to this strengthening if there is a massive participation by citizens, giving the results a strong legitimacy and giving a strong mandate to the institutions whose members have been elected. All this will not happen without educating and raising the awareness of the electorate so that citizens can demand a new culture of governance, question state representatives and oblige them to be open and to justify their actions.
The complexity of the democratic process and its related concepts, plus the fact that democracy in the Congo is still at an embryonic stage, will require that civil society should be actively involved in providing education about civic rights and participatory governance. We believe that the whole of civil society (churches, NGOs, trade unions, women’s movements, media etc.) is a key player because of its proximity to the people. There are several Congolese organisations which specialise in civic education and which try to do what they can, but the crying lack of means with which to run effective electoral education programmes for the masses hampers their noble ambition. We believe that the involvement of the grass roots in the process will help ensure security around the elections, reduce the risk of malpractice during the elections and make it easier to accept the results if there is a free and transparent electoral cycle.
It is vital for donor agencies to increase their support for civic education but civil society organisations, which, being on the ground and having the necessary skills, can play a complementary and unique role in accompanying the elections and in mobilising citizens to take part. This would increase the legitimacy and transparency of the process. The donors should coordinate their efforts better to provide extra financial support to different ways of strengthening the capacity of existing civil society organisations e.g. the Civil Society Fund (Fonds de la Société Civile - FSC).
Underlining the importance of citizens’ participation in the democratisation process, EurAc makes the following recommendations to the European Union and its member states:
1)Using flexible methods to enable work on the ground to be effective, urgently support and finance civil society in its role of raising popular awareness through civic and electoral education to be provided by Congolese organisations in collaboration with international NGOs.
2)To take part in a regular dialogue with civil society; to work through diplomatic channels to protect human rights defenders and ensure the implementation of the EU Guidelines on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, in coordination with other international partners.
3)To establish and support the independent observation of the elections involving official and non-governmental bodies, including Congolese civil society organisations. EurAc fails to understand the four MEPs’ recent lobbying of Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, calling for the EU electoral observation mission in the DRC to be cancelled. On the contrary, our view is that the EU must contribute to elections being organised correctly, including by having a presence on the ground. Effective electoral observation is an essential part of the process for consolidating peace in the Congo, to which the EU and member states have already invested a great deal.
4)Having so far failed to call for the electoral process to take place in a logical order, starting at the grassroots, with the local elections and working upwards, the EU should now make a strong commitment to the entire electoral cycle and invest the necessary means (political will as well as funding). The quality of democracy not only depends on presidential elections but equally on legislative, provincial and local elections.
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