DRC elections postponed

2006-03-28 13:53

Kinshasa - The Democratic Republic of Congo's long-delayed elections have been pushed back again, by at least week beyond the earlier scheduled June 18 date, an electoral commission spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The vote is to be the first in decades in this vast, war-ravaged central African country.

Marie-Rose Kambere said the DRC needed more time to process candidate applications after granting a 10-day extension for such filings on Thursday. Only some 400 people had paid the $250 fee to run for one of the 500 seats in parliament as of then, according to electoral commission officials.

"The 10-day delay for the deposit of presidential dossiers will impact the electoral calendar and delay the elections from the current date of 18 June," Kambere said.

She said that polls were likely to be scheduled between June 25 and July 2. "We will announce the new calendar after April 2," Kambere said.

Elections were initially set for June 2005, but poor planning and legislative problems delayed the vote. Officials then set a March deadline and finally in February decided on the June date.

- AP