Congolese Hope for Peaceful Runoff

UN troops sit next to one of the main streets of Kinshasa, Congo, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2006. The opposition candidate in Congo's upcoming presidential runoff vote said Thursday he will accept results of the vote even if he loses. Forces loyal to presidential challenger Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former rebel leader who is now one of four vice presidents in Congo's transitional government, clashed with troops loyal to President Joseph Kabila in August after results from the July 30 first round came in. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam) (Schalk Van Zuydam - AP)

KINSHASA, Congo -- A cement high-rise pocked by cannon fire. A candidate's helicopter pummeled into a mass of burned and twisted metal. Holes where office windows used to be.

Those are just some of the remnants of violence that erupted more than two months ago between forces loyal to the two men facing a run-off presidential vote on Sunday. The fighting erupted in late August following the first election round, which left no clear winner.

Sunday's race between the top two vote-getters _ the country's president and an ex-rebel leader _ climaxes a four-year transition meant to set this vast, volatile nation on the path to democratic government after more than 40 years of war and corrupt misrule.

Congo's riches were plundered by Belgian colonists and then by dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. War engulfed it from 1998 to 2002 and drew in at least seven nations.

Now Congolese are ready for a fresh start. But the August fighting was a reminder that their democracy is in its infancy _ and that much depends on the loser's ability to accept defeat peacefully.

"We don't want any more dictators. We want someone who looks and sees what the people need," said Ignace Mavita, a 40-year-old housebuilder. "We want one army, and one president."

The runoff pits President Joseph Kabila against Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former rebel leader and one of four vice presidents in the power-sharing government established after a peace deal ended the war. Kabila is favored to win, having captured 45 percent of the vote in the first round compared to Bemba's 20 percent.

The United Nations' 17,600-strong peacekeeping force, the world's largest, is contributing more than $1 billion to the colossal electoral effort. Delivering and counting ballots is no easy task in a country the size of western Europe where most people live in mud huts without electricity and few roads are paved.

A first round of voting on July 30 was marked by eager patriotism, dashed for many when Kabila and Bemba's personal guards clashed in the capital as results were released. Three days of gunfights between the candidates' forces _ nominally part of the same army _ left at least 23 dead by official counts.

International observers of the first round noted a host of problems from logistical issues of ballot collection and monitoring to confusing and potentially fraudulent voter lists _ but saw nothing significant enough to affect the results and ruled them valid.

Since then, political parties have papered over bullet holes with glossy posters and held street rallies and promised peace, but they are keeping their personal guards close while the U.N. and the Congolese army put up bunkers of sandbags in Kinshasa. Kabila's red-bereted forces number about 6,000 in the capital and Bemba's party says he has around 1,500 bodyguards.

In Kinshasa, many people worry that either a surprise win by Bemba or a contested win by Kabila could lead to fighting.