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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

DRC: Oversight committee chides transitional government for delays

NAIROBI, 21 October 2003 (IRIN) - An international committee overseeing the two-year transitional process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has chided the national unity government for a wide range of delays which, it said, "risked jeopardising the holding of nationwide elections within the next 24 months".

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the International Committee to Accompany the Transition (known by its French acronym, CIAT), which comprises ambassadors accredited to the DRC, meeting under the presidency of William Swing, the UN Secretary-General's special representative to the DRC, cited delays including the implementation of a national government administration; the formation of a unified national army; the absence of a national disarmament, demobilisation and reinsertion (DDR) programme; and the continued presence of foreign armed elements on DRC national territory.

CIAT therefore urged the transitional government to appoint "without delay" provincial governments and administrative staff; to dispatch military commanders to their posts, with a view to the formation of a united national army and the drafting of laws on national defence; to put in place a national coordination body responsible for DDR; and to identify means of accelerating the DDRRR (DDR plus repatriation and reintegration) of foreign armed elements, in collaboration with the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, known as MONUC, and neighbouring countries.

"CIAT believes that the success of the electoral process depends equally upon the implementation of a domestic government programme responding to the urgent needs of the people, as well as the installation of a legal framework that guarantees financial transparency in electoral preparations, including the publication of assets of political parties, their sources of revenue and expenses, and their personal wealth and taxes paid," the committee's statement read.

UN Security Council Resolution 1493 of 28 July 2003 called on MONUC, in coordination with other UN agencies, donors and NGOs to support the DRC in the holding of free and democratic elections across the country.

Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Governance

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