Monday, October 30, 2006
The final round of voting has ended in the first free elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in over forty years.
The runoff is between incumbent President Joseph Kabila and Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba, who led a field of 33 candidates in the first round of polling held on July 30, but failed to achieve the required majority vote. The voting has been largely peaceful, though isolated incidents of violence and voting fraud have been reported.
| Jean-Pierre Bemba | Joseph Kabila |
| 44 years old | 35 years old |
| One of four Vice Presidents | President |
| leads Movement for the Liberation of Congo | leads People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy |
| polled 20% of vote in first round | polled 44.8% in first round |
| Main support base in western Congo | Main support base in eastern Swahili-speaking Congo |
| son of a prominent businessman, who was close to Mobutu Sese Seko. backed by Ugandan army during the war. retains considerable business interests. | son of former President Laurent Kabila, grew up abroad, received wartime backing from Rwanda. |
Contents
- 1 Polling day
- 2 Transition from war
- 3 Related news
- 4 Sources