Kabila’s government floated the idea this week, saying a one-round vote would cut costs and prevent a flare-up of tensions as seen in other African countries such as Ivory Coast.
“President Joseph Kabila’s initiative to revise the Constitution and consequently the electoral law…is inappropriate,” said Francois Mwamba, general secretary of the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC), speaking for a group of opposition parties.
The government proposal “has the sole aim of organising fraud on a grand scale and of allowing a single individual to confiscate all state powers,” he told reporters.
On Wednesday the influential archbishop of Kinshasa Laurent Monsengwo voiced support for a two-round election, saying that the elected national leader would “have a sufficient foundation” in the country.
“If the candidate wins in one round, mathematically that means that he could narrowly win with just 20% of the ballot. This is not representative enough,” he said.
The DR Congo’s Independent Election Commission has announced the first round of presidential and parliamentary elections for November 27.
Should no presidential candidate win more than 50%, a second round would be held in February 2012 alongside provincial assembly elections.
Source: news24