Voting began in Congo's first democratic election in more than four decades Sunday, a colossal democratic exercise many hope will secure an end to years of fighting and corrupt rule that have devastated the gigantic, mineral-rich nation in the heart of Africa.
Congo's young president Joseph Kabila faces dozens of contenders, including ex-rebel leaders he once fought against who carved the nation into rival fiefdoms before joining a transitional government three years ago as part of a peace deal paving the way for the election.
"Today is a chance to make a new beginning and to draw the line at all the war we have seen," 44-year-old engineer Jean-Pierre Shamba said after casting his ballot at a secondary school in the eastern town of Bunia guarded by a dozen blue-helmeted Moroccan peacekeepers.
PHOTO: AP
Kabila is the front-runner in a field of 33 hopefuls that include two of his four vice presidents: Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former Ugandan-backed rebel who once controlled northeast Congo, and Azarias Ruberwa, another ex-rebel who once controlled much of the east with backing from neighboring Rwanda.
"The people of Congo at last have a voice, and we hope it will bring us peace," said 58-year-old mason Edouard Kwama, one of 100 people lined up at the school before dawn.
In Kinshasa, voters wearing sweaters and shawls against a damp, pre-dawn cool trudged past bonfires of burning rubbish in the streets, heading to polling stations where police checked them for weapons and electoral workers dipped their right thumbs in purple ink to prove they voted.
"This is an historic day for us. We've only had coups d'etat and dictators in this country: phantom governments," said Emmanuel Kiye, a 48-year old mechanic, casting his first-ever vote. "Now we'll have a government of the people. I thank God."
The presidential ballots are huge: six newspaper-broadsheet sized pages filled with dozens of candidates' faces, names and unique party symbols, to help Congolese who can't read select their preferred candidate.
More than 9,000 candidates are also running for 500 legislative seats.
The US$500 million UN-supported enterprise is the world body's biggest ever, safeguarded by 17,600 UN troops, the largest UN peacekeeping force in the world. The EU sent a 1,000-strong contingent to Congo to help secure the vote, and another 1,000 troops are on standby in nearby Gabon.
Before the poll, dozens died in election-related violence. One parliamentary candidate fled the country because of shootings. In Mbuji Mayi, opposition militants burned a truck carrying voting materials.
Congo is recovering from back-to-back wars that lasted from 1996 to 2002. Despite the conflict's end, sporadic fighting has continued between government forces and militias in the east, where aid groups say about 1,000 people are dying every day from hunger and disease.
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