KINSHASA: Congo will hold its second post-war presidential and legislative elections on Nov. 28, the electoral commission said on Saturday, and a vote seen as a test of President Joseph Kabila's commitment to democracy.
Analysts hope the polls will also be an important step towards stability for a country recovering from a conflict that ended in 2003, leaving more than 5 million people dead.
"We are particularly sensitive to the opposition's demands to hold elections within the constitutional timeframe," the president of the electoral commission, Daniel Ngoy Mulunda, told a news conference in the capital Kinshasa.
Opposition parties in the mineral-rich, Central African nation had requested the elections be held before Kabila's term ends in December.
Mulunda said provisional results would be known by Dec. 6, the announcement of the electoral calendar had been delayed repeatedly, leading to fears that all or part of the vote would be postponed.
Leading opposition candidate Vital Kamerhe told Reuters he was happy with some aspects of the calendar but remained concerned about the transparency of the vote.
"We, the Congolese people, are ready for elections, but the authorities must ensure security for the vote," Kamerhe said.
The head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country, Roger Meece, said the UN would provide logistical assistance.
"It's an ambitious calendar and there are major challenges, but we're very committed to doing our part," he said.
The vast country faces major challenges in organising the elections. Parliament has not yet agreed on an electoral law and voter registration is only complete in 2 out of 11 provinces.
Kabila, who came to power in 2001 following the assassination of his father Laurent, signed off on constitutional reforms earlier this year which reduce the presidential vote to one round, meaning the winner would not need an absolute majority, critics said this was done to help his re-election.
He won internationally-organised elections in 2006, but the vote was marred by violent clashes between his supporters and those of rival candidate Jean Pierre Bemba, which killed more than 300 people in the capital.
Bemba is now standing trial for war crimes in The Hague.
Observers say unless the country's notoriously fractured opposition can unite behind one candidate, Kabila is likely to win, despite growing unpopularity over his failure to tackle corruption and instability.
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