Conduct

At least six people were killed in violent street protests in the run up to the election.

As of July 30, most polling station

Polling station

A polling place or polling station is where voters cast their ballots in elections.Since elections generally take place over a one- or two-day span on a periodic basis, often annual or longer, polling places are often located in facilities used for other purposes, such as schools, churches, sports...

s were reported to have opened on time, with the election remaining peaceful. The election closely followed an agreement with Ituri militias

Ituri Conflict

The Ituri conflict is a conflict between the agriculturalist Lendu and pastoralist Hema ethnic groups in the Ituri region of the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo . While there have been many phases to the conflict, the most recent armed clashes ran from 1999 to 2003, with a low-level...

 on July 28, an agreement which MONUC has stated "greatly enhances the security situation in the province in the lead-up to the historic DRC elections."

Violence in Kasai

Presumed supporters of Tshisekedi burnt polling stations and voting materials in the city of Mbuji-Mayi

Mbuji-Mayi

Mbuji-Mayi serves as the capital of Kasai-Oriental Province in the south-central Democratic Republic of Congo. It is the third largest city in the country, following the capital Kinshasa and second largest city Lubumbashi but ahead of Kisangani and Kananga. The city is the DRC's third-largest,...

, capital of East Kasai province, on Sunday to prevent the elections being held. The elections were extended until Monday and riot police were deployed.

Fraud allegations

On the day of the election three Vice-Presidents and candidates complained of vote rigging. Bemba, Ruberwa and Z'Ahidi said "Perhaps we are heading for a masquerade or a parody of elections".

Partial preliminary results

Preliminary results were expected to be released on August 2, but due to the remoteness of many polling stations, results were not expected to be finalised until three weeks after the polls close. While South African observers approved the election, other monitors expressed concern, including ones from the Carter Center

Carter Center

The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter. In partnership with Emory University, The Carter Center works to advance human rights and alleviate human suffering...

. MONUC reported that on August 3, on the third day of "chaotic poll-counting, a suspicious fire at a major Kinshasa election center deepened concerns over the transparency of the results." According to MONUC, while the election itself may have met requirements, "the process of collecting results from 50,000 polling stations had become chaotic." On August 6, MONUC predicted that President Joseph Kabila

Joseph Kabila

Joseph Kabila Kabange is a Congolese politician who has been President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since January 2001. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila...

 appeared most likely to win, with Jean-Pierre Bemba

Jean-Pierre Bemba

Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo is a politician in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was one of four vice-presidents in the transitional government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 17 July 2003 to December 2006. Bemba also leads the Movement for the Liberation of Congo , a rebel group...

 finishing second.

Clashes in eastern DRC

On August 5, thousands in eastern DRC were fleeing clashes between the DRC army and forces affiliated with General

General

A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

 Laurent Nkunda

Laurent Nkunda

Laurent Nkunda or Laurent Nkundabatware, or Laurent Nkunda Batware, or as he prefers to be called The Chairman — is a former General in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo and is the former warlord operating in the province of Nord-Kivu, sympathetic to Congolese Tutsis and the...

. DRC officials reported that two government soldiers were killed in the fighting. According to the The Independent

The Independent

The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...

, Nkunda, who is "widely believed to be in third place in the race for the DRC's presidency," stated that he will respect the results, but along with over 30 other candidates, expressed "determination to resist results which are perceived to be unfair." Nkunda, who remains subject of an international arrest warrant issued by the DRC government "for alleged atrocities against civilians committed since 2004," expressed a willingness to negotiate with the winner of the election, but also, determination to resist any military attack. MONUC spokesperson reported that the peacekeeping force had begun patrolling in the area and that fighting has become limited to isolated incidents.

Pre-release of interim results

While the official provisional election results were not to be announced until August 20, on August 7, due to the tense climate brought by the chaotic collection of results and after pressures from international envoys (an effort led by South Africa), the DRC Electoral Commission stated that it will begin releasing interim election results as soon as the 20 percent vote count threshold is reached. On August 8, some results were released, indicating that Kabila "overwhelmingly won" in the east while Bemba won in the west. A UN representative stated that it is too early to declare a winner. Preliminary national results were not expected until at least August 14. On August 12, the DRC Independent Electoral Commission announced that six poll officials have been arrested for attempting to falsify the election results. The officials were arrested on August 10, and appeared in court on August 11. On August 15, the IEC reported that 94 percent of the presidential votes and 44 percent of the parliamentary results had been counted. MONUC cautioned against media speculation of the results, while the instability in eastern DRC continues.
On August 16, Angola

Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

 deployed four battalions along the DRC border. The Angolan army

Military of Angola

The Angolan Armed Forces are the military in Angola that succeeded Forças Armadas de Libertação de Angola following the abortive Bicesse Accord with UNITA in 1991. As part of the peace agreement, troops from both armies were to be demilitarized and then integrated. Integration was never completed...

's Deputy Chief of Staff, General Geraldo Sachipendo Nunda, has said that these are steps taken "to ensure the security of our borders," although it has been speculated that Angola is preparing to intervene, if the need arises, in favor of Kabila. On August 17, the UN began investigating a suspected child prostitution ring involving UN peacekeepers and members of the DRC army. Also on August 17, MONUC chief William Lacy Swing, warned against hate messages in local Bemba-run media which called on Congolese to target white people and foreigners. This was in response to a widespread perception that Kabila's election had been backed by the international community. In response, the Congolese High Authority on Media suspended for twenty four hours the RTAE and CCTV television stations, the latter owned by Bemba. The government-owned Congolese Broadcasting Corporation television station, controlled by Kabila, also received a twenty four hour suspension.

Interim results

The CEI released its full provisional results for the presidential election on August 20. On August 31, the DRC Supreme Court will announce the final official presidential election results. The CEI is set to release the results of the parliamentary election during early September

September 2006

September 2006 was marked by a controversy surrounding statements made by Pope Benedict XVI regarding Islam, during the same week as the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Steve Irwin, star of The Crocodile Hunter, died early in the month due to a stingray attack...

. Both events ended up being postponed, and as of September 7, remain so.

Presidential

On August 20, with almost all the votes from the country's 169 constituencies having been counted, the DRC headed toward a run-off election. There were reports of automatic gunfire in Kinshasa, and MLC representatives accused Kabila's Republican Guard of killing one of its men and injuring three policemen. The armed clashes resulted in the long-awaited CEI announcement ceremony being delayed by several hours. Full provisional results show Kabila with 44.81 percent of the vote, to Bemba's 20.03. Gizenga secured about 13 percent, Mobutu about 5 percent and Kashala around 4 percent.

Parliamentary

On August 25, MONUC announced that the parliamentary results will be released as early as that day, but as of August 27, they have yet to be released. On August 28, the CEI began releasing the legislative results, with the final count expected for September 4. On September 4, the CEI postponed releasing the results of the parliamentary elections by at least a day following the arrest of ten Bemba-affiliated election officials. Still, the CEI announced that these problems will not affect the results. The results so far released, show Kabila at a strong lead with 45% of the seats to Bemba's 14%, the remaining going to other parties. Of the 500 parliamentary seats, 58 have yet to be released.
On September 8, the CEI released the results, revealing that no single party gained the 251 seats needed to secure a majority. Kabila's PPRD has won 111 seats, while Bemba's MLC won 64 seats.

Clashes in Kinshasa

Starting on August 20 heavy armed clashes took place in Kinsasha between forces loyal to Kabila and Bemba. Both sides accused the other of starting the fighting.

On August 21, while a meeting between Bemba and foreign ambassadors representing the International Committee Accompanying the Transition to Democracy (CIAT) was taking place in Kinshasa, clashes broke out between Kabila and Bemba forces, and Bemba's residence which hosted the meeting, came under attack. According to one diplomat in the residence, it included artillery and heavy machine gun fire. Bemba and the diplomats were moved to the safety of the residence's shelter and there were no reports of injuries. Evacuation plans for the diplomats stranded in the shelter were reportedly being drawn up. Bemba's private helicopter was said to have been destroyed in the attack. Several hours later, the UN spokesperson in the DRC, Jean-Tobias Okala, announced that the foreign diplomats, including MONUC chief William Swing, had been successfully evacuated to UN headquarters by Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 and Uruguay

Uruguay

Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

an peace-keeping forces after a top Kabila general and UN forces commander cooperated to allow them safe passage.

Once the rescue had been completed, fighting in the DRC capital ensued, and on August 22, two DRC army tanks were reported seen heading toward the latest area of fighting. The EU began sending more peacekeeping troops to Kinsasha and MONUC chief Swing called for an immediate ceasefire. Later on August 22, on the third day of fighting, the two sides signed a tentative ceasefire agreement to withdraw from the centre of Kinshasa. AFP

Agence France-Presse

Agence France-Presse is a French news agency, the oldest one in the world, and one of the three largest with Associated Press and Reuters. It is also the largest French news agency. Currently, its CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and its news director Philippe Massonnet...

 reports that "the deal was signed by representatives of Kabila and Bemba, DRC army, the UN mission MONUC, European force EUFOR and European police mission EUROPOL, meeting as a "working group" at MONUC's Kinshasa headquarters." At least three people have died during Tuesday's fighting. Sixteen people were reported killed in the fighting which saw heavy artillery and machine gun fire, with police reporting more bodies being found and the deathtoll expected to rise considerably. Later in the day, Interior Minister Theophile Mbemba Fundu, placed the deathtoll for the week at 23 killed, 43 injured. As of August 24, the ceasefire remained in effect, with army forces loyal to the two candidates remaining in barracks, but the situation remains unstable. Later in the day, police fired shots in the air to disperse angry crowds demanding that two of Bemba's television stations be reopened. South African Airways

South African Airways

South African Airways is the national flag carrier and largest airline of South Africa, with headquarters in Airways Park on the grounds of OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng. The airline flies to 36 destinations worldwide from its hub at OR Tambo International...

 announced that flights to Kinshasa will be resumed on August 25 after being suspended since the fighting began.

On August 26, Kabila and Bemba announced that the two had agreed to meet. Later in the day, however, tensions were heightend as Bemba failed to attend the meeting. On August 29, MONUC announced that representatives of Kabila and Bemba were due to meet under UN supervision. Later in the day, it was reported that Kabila and Bemba themselves met for the first time since the clashes began. On August 30, MONUC announced that the meeting resulted in the establishment of two joint sub-commissios, one to conduct an independent investigation of the clashes, and the other to devise rules which will prevent violence from recurring during the October 29 run-off election.

The French Wikipedia

French Wikipedia

The French Wikipedia is the French language edition of Wikipedia, spelt Wikipédia. This edition was started in March 2001, and has about articles as of , making it the third-largest Wikipedia overall, after the English-language and German-language editions...

 has an article about the August 2006 Kinsasha clashes: Événements de Kinshasa d'août 2006 

Release of official results

As of early September

September 2006

September 2006 was marked by a controversy surrounding statements made by Pope Benedict XVI regarding Islam, during the same week as the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Steve Irwin, star of The Crocodile Hunter, died early in the month due to a stingray attack...

, the DRC Supreme Court is to have about two months to rule on election-related appeals.

Presidential

On September 5, the DRC Supreme Court, which was set to release the official results of the election's first round, announced it will be postponing doing so pending two legal challenges which deem the forthcoming second round of elections unconstitutional. MONUC, however, stated on September 6 that it is satisfied with the electoral process, but expressed concern over the humanitarian situation.

Parliamentary

The CEI has postponed releasing the interim results for several days and these were released on September 8. As of that day, the CEI is to have fifteen days to set the date for the first session of parliament. This notwithstanding any Supreme Court rulings on its final composition.

Presidential run-off

During late October 2006, as the date for the presidential run-off approached, security concerns were increasingly expressed. On October 26, the CEI stated that the North Kivu province could see security threats. While MONUC stated that they "'do not foresee any major problems,'"
the next day, on October 27, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated that he was "very concerned about the increasing level of violence as election day approaches" The head of the South African observer mission, Mluleki George, stated, however, that he expected the election would "'be held under normal and peaceful conditions.'" As well, rebel leader Laurent Nkunda reiterated he will respect the results, a pledge which was also expressed by Bemba.

On October 29, the South African Broadcasting Corporation

South African Broadcasting Corporation

The South African Broadcasting Corporation is the state-owned broadcaster in South Africa and provides 18 radio stations as well as 3 television broadcasts to the general public.-Early years:Radio broadcasting began in South Africa in 1923...

 (which a day before condemned police violence against its correspondent) reported that despite delays in the Kinshasa area, caused by heavy rains, voting was "running smoothly in most other parts of the DRC." The African Union

African Union

The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...

 hailed "the smooth conduct" of the election and appealed for calm as vote counting began. Carter Center chief observer, former Canadian Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Canada

The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...

 Joe Clark

Joe Clark

Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...

, stated that "attempted manipulation of the electoral process, while very serious in a few cases, appear at this point to be isolated and unlikely to affect the overall success of the vote."

Clashes in Equateur

During the first day of voting, violent clashes in the Equateur

Équateur

Équateur is one of the ten provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is in the north of the country, and bordered the Republic of the Congo to the west, the Central African Republic to the north, to the east the Orientale province, and to the south the Kasai-Oriental, Kasai-Occidental, and...

 province resulted in two fatalities. MONUC stated later in the day that "the situation has returned to calm and voting operations are taking place normally throughout Equateur." Additional reports of clashes remained unconfirmed, but these appeared to have been limited to Equateur.

Rioting in Ituri

On October 30, as vote counting began, MONUC reported that a soldier killed two poll workers in the town of Fataki, Ituri Province, resulting in riots which led to the destruction of 43 polling stations. The reason for the shooting remain unclear, but it appears that the soldier was drunk. The soldier has been sentenced to death for the murders.

Partial preliminary results (2nd round)

The results of the presidential run-off are to be released on November 19, 2006. On October 30, voter turnout

Voter turnout

Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...

 was estimated to have been low.
The head of the CEI, Apollinaire Malumalu, warned on November 1 against releasing partial preliminary results to prevent the same violent clashes which followed during the election's first round.

Pre-release of interim results (2nd round)

Three days later, however, the CEI decided to prerelease partial preliminary results to stem the spread of rumours, a decision analogous to the unscheduled prerelease that took place during the first round. On November 6, results from 12 of 169 constituencies showed Kabila in the lead. On November 8, the two candidates met and issued calls for calm. The meeting came as accusations from Bemba's coalition were directed against the CEI for skewing the results in favour of Kabila, a claim dismissed by a CEI official as false and inflammatory.

On November 10, with votes from 112 of 169 constituencies counted and with a voter turnout of about 67 percent, Kabila was leading with about 60 percent of the votes.

Clashes in Kinshasa (2nd round)

On November 11, a shootout took place for several hours after police had fired shorts in the air to disperse Bemba's supporters who demonstrated nearby Bemba's residence in Kinshasa to protest vote counting during the run-off. The shooting ceased after MONUC mediated a meeting between representatives of the two groups. At least four people were reported to have died in the clashes. On November 13, DRC police arrested 337 people, including 87 children, suspected to have been involved in the November 11 clashes.

Partial results contested by Bemba

On November 14, Bemba rejected the results of the election, which showed Kabila with 60 to Bemba's 40 percent, with 90 percent of the votes (159 out of 169 constituencies) having been counted. Bemba's supporters stated that "the Union for the Nation will not accept an electoral hold-up that aims to steal victory from the Congolese people", and that they were not bound by their promise to accept the results if they thought there was electoral fraud. Bemba's UFN coalition maintained he was leading with 52 to Kabila's 48 percent.

Interim results (2nd round)

The results released by the CEI on November 15 and were confirmed by the Supreme Court on November 27.

province	registered voters	voted	part.	invalid	empty	counting	Bemba	Kabila
Kinshasa			57.11%
Bas-Congo			51.59%
Bandundu			50.63%
Equateur			84.45%
Orientale			63.84%
North Kivu			77.05%
South Kivu			84.06%
Maniema			80.23%
Katanga			75.58%
Kasai Oriental			42.67%
Kasai Occidental			51.42%
Total			65.36%
% total							41.95%	58.05%

Interim results contested by Bemba

On November 17, Bemba told reporters that he rejects the interim results, citing irregularities. He said that he "cannot accept the results that are far from reflecting the truth of the election results," and that he would "use all the legal channels to respect the will of our people." Bemba, on November 18, filed a complaint to the Supreme Court over his claims of electoral irregularities. A member of his UFN coalition had said that: "there were many, many irregularities. It was not at all democratic. We are confident the supreme court will correct the result."

Supreme Court fire

On November 21, part of the Supreme Court building was burned down amid gunfire during a session in which the Court was reviewing an electoral fraud complaint. No casualties were reported. The direct cause for the fire was unclear, but it followed a demonstration by Bemba supporters who were seeking entry into the building. According to Interior Minister Denis Kalume, "armed men who infiltrated the demonstrators opened fire on the police and from then everything went haywire." MONUC, who evacuated judges, lawyers, and CEI officials from the building, attributed the incident to "uncontrolled elements." On November 22, it was announced that the Supreme Court would be relocated to several parts of the capital, and possibly, the country. The South African observation mission and the Carter Center both expressed approval of the second round. Bemba's coalition lawyer Delly Sesanga, however, argued in favour of "the cancellation of the poll" due to "too many irregularities." Tensions remained high after the DRC army surrounded Bemba's compound in Kinshasa.

Kabila issues ultimatum to Bemba

On November 23, about 50 soldiers of Bemba's security detail in Kinshasa, estimated at 600-to-1,000 soldiers, left his residence there and were moved to one in Maluku following pressure by Kabila for Bemba to move some, or all, of his troops within 48 hours. A Kabila official, however, said that this was "absolutely not an ultimatum." Another 100 of Bemba's troops were expected to leave the capital later in the day.
On November 24, the "ultimatum" expired with few, if any, additional Bemba troops removed from the capital. This made it increasingly likely that Kabila would order the DRC army, which continued to surround Bemba's compound, to remove Bemba's soldiers itself. Such an act would greatly increase the likelihood for further armed confrontations. MONUC has said that, if needed, its peacekeepers will help the DRC army to enforce the ultimatum.

Offensive by Nkunda in Sake

On November 25, forces loyal to General Laurent Nkunda engaged more than 2,000 soldiers against the DRC army 11th Brigade around the town of Sake

Sake, DRC

Sake is a town in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the eastern province of North Kivu. It is located at the northwestern extremity of Lake Kivu, 25 km west-northwest of Goma on National Road No. 2, at the edge of the volcanic lava plains in the bottom of the Great Rift Valley, western...

 (near Goma

Goma

Goma is a city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the western branch of the Great Rift Valley, and Goma lies only 13 to 18 km due south of the crater of the active...

), Nord-Kivu

Nord-Kivu

Nord-Kivu is a province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Its capital is Goma....

. Three soldiers and three civilians were killed, and close to 20 people were wounded. MONUC has sent 1,000 soldiers to secure the area. According to UN, "'15 000 and 20 000 people had been displaced by the fighting.'" MONUC spokesperson said that by morning "there were still some shots, but calm was mostly restored," and that Nkunda forces had retreated back and "all of the 11th Brigades's positions are under control," On November 26, MONUC reported that it had clashed with Nkunda's forces who were moving toward Goma, stating: "we fired warning shots from attack helicopters and our troops on the ground have engaged them in Sake."
It was later suggested that the attack may not have been related to the election, but rather, was in reaction to the "killing of a Tutsi civilian who was close to one of the commanders in this group." The UN called on the DRC government to negotiate with Nkunda and on November 27, DRC Interior Minister, General Denis Kalume, was sent to eastern DRC to begin negotiations. Sporadic fire was still reported on November 29.

Result (2nd round)

On November 24, three days after the fire, the Supreme Court resumed its activities in a small, heavily-guarded room in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Bemba lawyers, however, questioned the impartiality and number of judges involved, arguing that too many of them favour Kabila. Bemba's lead attorney Jean-Marie Tshibangu stated that: "it is not the competence of the court but the competence of its composition that we are challenging." On November 26, presiding judge Kalonda Kele said a ruling over Bemba's challenge would be announced the next day.

Supreme Court ruling

On November 27, the Supreme Court dismissed Bemba's challenge as "unfounded" and confirmed that Kabila had won the election, stating that: "Mr Kabila Kabange, Joseph, is proclaimed president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, elected by absolute majority."

Aftermath

After being declared winner, Kabila hinted that Bemba will play a role in the new government, stating that "the effort now must be nation building, it must be reconstruction. The government that will be put in place will be a government of coalition." Bemba, who boycotted the hearings after the Supreme Court refused to consider further challenges over alleged "systematic cheating", was not immediately available for comment. On 28 November, Bemba released a statement saying that while he condemns the ruling, he accepts the results and is prepared to lead a "strong republican opposition in the interests of the nation". Kabila was sworn in as president on December 6.

External links

• DRC Independent Electoral Commission
• Legislative election results in full
• "Countdown in Congo" special from IRIN