The new electoral bill is finally here

[Congo]

The new electoral bill is finally here

The new electoral bill is finally here. It has been, since last Wednesday, on the table of the Honourable Minaku Ndjalandjoko Aubin, President of the Bureau of the National Assembly. The M17, heard the Movement of May 17, having read its contents, immediately reacted. He welcomed, in part, the innovations made. Because, in addition to these last, this centrist party calls for the reform of the CENI but also and especially, with the decentralisation of the power of publication of the results of the elections. Thus, each electoral district, he proposes, will have to be autonomous. Augustin Kikukama, President of the M17, explained it enough yesterday, Sunday, November 19, in front of the press. “How can we ensure that we have good elections, how to ensure that at least 90% of elected representatives are really the will of those who voted?” He asked, before shouting that never again elected from a list that was concocted in the compilation maneuvers that are done in Kinshasa. “We give voices to people who do not have any; I think what we can do is reforms to get a good election, ” he adds. And, the most important reforms for Kikukama is first the CENI and the electoral law. That this electoral law, hammered the President of M17, decentralizes the power of publication of the results of the polls. That there is no more compilation in Kinshasa. Each constituency proclaims its results and assumes criminal responsibility when there are cases of fraud. Because in his opinion, it is at the level of the compilation of the results that things are spoiled.

The new electoral bill is, since last Wednesday, on the table of the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Honorable Aubin Minaku. This law, the adoption and promulgation of which were included among the constraints raised by the CENI and likely to compromise compliance with the electoral calendar, should in principle be examined without delay. This new bill has, indeed, experienced some innovations in particular, as regards the method of calculating the distribution of seats, which will be based on the number of voters enlisted. It will now also be a question of a threshold determined by a percentage as regards the lists of candidates. And, finally, help to moralise political actors, by strengthening the conditions of eligibility.

According to this bill, the electoral quotient is obtained by dividing the number of enlisted voters of the DRC and not the number of inhabitants enumerated in the country, by the number of seats to be filled in the National Assembly which is 500. At the provincial level, the number of seats is obtained by dividing the total number of voters enlisted in the province by the electoral quotient. The same applies to each electoral district where the number of seats is obtained by dividing the number of electors of the place by the same quotient. As a result, the representatives threshold is determined at the national level at 3%. That is, only the list of political parties and groups or independents of 3% will be allocated seats after the election. However, in single-seat constituencies, only the candidate with the highest number of votes is elected. Finally, with regard to the moralisation of political actors, the project provides for the regulation of cases of independent candidates who hold an elected office or any other public mandate on behalf of a political party or group. The latter must, under penalty of inadmissibility of his candidacy, establish the proof of his resignation which must occur at the latest three months before the stage of filing of candidatures. In other words, if an actor wants to stand as an independent for an election to be held in December, he must leave his party or group three months before, in September.