Two more Kabilas in DRC parliament
2012-01-28 19:00
Kinshasa - President Joseph Kabila's twin sister and his younger brother were both elected to the parliament of the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to official results released on Friday.
Twin sister Jaynet Kabila, 40, was elected as an independent to a constituency in Kalemie, in the southeastern province of Katanga, a stronghold of support for the president.
His brother Zoe, 33, was elected in Katanga, Monono, as a deputy for the president's ruling PPRD party.
Their victories were among the latest announced from a provisional tally of votes cast in November polls, which showed Kabila's party leading the race for parliamentary seats.
Kabila's PPRD party had captured 58 of the 432 seats counted so far in the 500-seat parliament, according to provisional figures seen by AFP. The party had won 111 seats in the last elections in 2006.
Elections flawed
Second placed was opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi's UDPS, with 34 seats. The UDPS had boycotted the 2006 polls, and its leader has denounced the November 28 elections as flawed.
Among parties allied to the PPRD, four have obtained between a dozen and over twenty parliamentary seats, while in the opposition camp only two parties has achieved such numbers so far.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) is expected to unveil the remaining figures on Monday next week - having announced on Tuesday it was postponing the announcement, due on Thursday, "until further notice".
Electoral candidates and observer groups have charged that polling and vote-counting was chaotic, while candidates have cried foul.
In total, almost 19 000 candidates vied at the polls for 500 seats in the national assembly of the DRC, a huge central African country that was wracked by two wars from 1997 to 2003.
Eastern provinces are still conflict-ridden, partly over control of considerable mineral wealth.
CENI came under heavy criticism in December when it announced the results of the presidential poll, which was held on the same day as the parliamentary elections.
It gave victory to outgoing president Joseph Kabila, who first came to office in 2001 and was elected in the first post-war elections in 2006. He defeated Tshisekedi, who rejected the results and pronounced himself president-elect on December 24.
The international community has denounced the elections as flawed.
