By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, November 28 -- With election problems including killings from Kasai through Katanga, Kinshasa to South Kivu, Inner City Press late Monday asked US Ambassador Susan Rice about charges the UN and its envoy Roger Meece are acting biases for Joseph Kabila, and if the elections are up to snuff.
Rice replied that "we're concerned by reports of violence and indeed some deaths today in various parts of the country... This election was conducted by the Congolese at their insistence. It was not, like the prior election, one that was in effect organized and orchestrated by the United Nations. The United Nations does not have a central role either in the conduct of the election or even the certification of these elections."
Congolese sources say that opposition figure Etienne Tshisekedi, who asked for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to remove Meece, is most concerned that the international community will "rush to certify" Kabila as the winner.
Rice continued, "we think it's very important for the Congolese to respect the processes that have been provided by the electoral authorities, to refrain from violence, and we hope that when the situation clarifies that the disturbing reports we've heard today will prove to be the exception rather than the rule. But we need to wait and see."
Again, Congolese sources have marveled that even donors to the electoral process have remained silence as campaigning was banned and other irregularities multiplied. How far will it go? Watch this site.
