KINSHASA, Congo — As this vast Central African nation prepares for elections this week, civilians have been attacked for wearing T-shirts of opposition candidates. Police loyal to President Joseph Kabila have suppressed demonstrations, often violently.
At the same time, the leading opposition candidate, Etienne Tshisekedi, has already declared himself president, and his supporters have vowed to take to the streets if he doesn’t win.
“We will revolt,” declared Bernard Kayembe, 28, standing with scores of young people outside Tshisekedi’s campaign headquarters. “It will be like Tunisia. We will start a revolution and claim our rights.”
The presidential and parliamentary contests scheduled for Monday will be only the second elections since Congo gained independence in 1960, after years of instability driven by Cold War rivalry, dictatorship and war. The balloting represents a progress report of sorts for the United States and the international community, which have spent billions of dollars in an attempt to stabilize a country that holds some of the greatest reserves of mineral wealth in the world.
But human rights groups and election observers are voicing concerns that the elections are being held under conditions that are far from free and fair, with extensive reports of violence and hate speech. And the elections have become a showcase for impunity and a lack of justice; some candidates are wanted for atrocities such as ordering mass rapes.
In a report this month, the United Nations warned that “the continued repression of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the pre-electoral period may increase the likelihood of individuals and political parties resorting to violent means, endanger the democratic process and lead to post-electoral violence.”
On the eve of the vote, some uncertainty remains about whether elections can be held on time. U.N. peacekeepers were airlifting balloting materials, seeking to reach some 60,000 polling stations across a nation that is two-thirds the size of Western Europe. The flurry of last-minute preparations has raised the prospect that the vote could be marred by allegations of irregularities.
There are 11 presidential candidates; as many as 18,500 candidates for parliament will compete for 500 seats. An estimated 32 million Congolese are eligible to vote.
With the army, police and judicial system on his side, Kabila is widely expected to win — and to overcome any challenge to the result. The opposition is divided, refusing to unite and field a single candidate against Kabila, whose campaign is clearly the best funded. Posters of a beaming Kabila are ubiquitous around the capital, and he has hired popular Congolese musicians to write songs glorifying him.
Kabila’s loyalists have undertaken a campaign of intimidation to secure a victory. U.N. investigators have documented 188 violations related to the electoral process. The national police and intelligence services have perpetrated most of those abuses, the world body noted in its report.
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