Congolese are called to the vote this Sunday, March 21, 2021, to elect a new president. Seven opponents are running, including outgoing Denis Sassou-Ngueso, who is already accumulating at 77, 36 years at the helm of the country. The main focus of the vote: participation. But also transparency.
In total, almost 2.5 million voters are expected to vote. Prior to them, about 60,000 police officers performed their duty last Wednesday. Voters who have not received their cards at home can pick them up at the entrance to the polling station, according to the Interior Ministry.
More than 5,700 polling stations will be open between 7 and at. “There is no problem with election material at all. This is already in place “, assures a source to the independent national election commission.
One of the most important issues in the vote is undoubtedly turnout. It has tended to decline in Congo over the last fifteen years with the notable exception of the 2016 presidential election. Will there still be queues in front of the polls this year? Many doubt it in Brazzaville, where fatigue is high relative to the political class, and where a significant portion of the population considers this election “the game in advance.”
Another issue is transparency. For example, will all candidates be able to send delegates to each of the more than 5,700 polling stations? Will all the minutes be given to them at the end of the day? Questions all the more important as some opponents have already let it be known that they are preparing to challenge the results and that Bishops’ Conference was not allowed to deploy its observers in the field.
Fewer observers than expected
The vote will therefore take place with fewer observers than expected. As for national observers, they will be nearly a thousand on the ground this Sunday, according to one of the vice presidents of the election commission. It could have been much more if the Catholic Church had not been denied accreditation by the approximately 4,000 observers it trained and intended to deploy.
On the international side, about twenty observers from the African Union will be present – less than expected due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They will be split between Brazzaville, Ouesso, Niari, Sangha and Pool. There will also be about thirty observers from ICGLR as well as a team from ECCAS. All have recently arrived for so-called “short-term” missions and not for observation of the whole process.
The EU has not issued a mission in the absence of a formal request from the Congolese authorities. As for diplomats stationed in Brazzaville, few embassies have applied for accreditation. “This kind of observation can only be very partial,” explains one diplomat, who also points to fears of certain chancelleries.
In terms of security, however, the climate around this election seems less harsh than five years ago. This week, Pastor Ntumi, former rebel leader of Pool, launched the site of a civil war after the last face-to-face, an appeal for “peace.” Without supporting any candidate this time, he felt that this election “should not be the occasion to awaken the division’s old demons”.
► Also read:Congo-Brazzaville: a choice in a climate of mistrust
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