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DR Congo opposition protest over election law vote

by (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Click For Restrictions. http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Wednesday, 12 January 2011 17:48 GMT

* Congo's national assembly votes to cut poll run-off

* Opposition boycotts vote, threatens street protests

By Jonny Hogg

KINSHASA, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Congo's National Assembly has voted for legislative changes that would end the need for a presidential run-off, triggering the opposition to threaten to call street protests to block it.

President Joseph Kabila's supporters secured victory with more than 330 of the 500-seat assembly voting in favour. Most of his opponents walked out in protest during Tuesday's vote on constitutional reforms that include scrapping the need for a second round vote.

The measure, which Kabila says is intended to save money but opponents say is meant to ensure he would not face the threat of a coalition in a run-off during elections due later this year, must now be passed by the Senate and then also adopted by a 60 percent majority in a joint session of the two houses.

Thomas Luhaka, a spokesman for the MLC party, which is popular in the sprawling capital, Kinshasa, where anti-Kabila sentiment is strong, said on Wednesday opposition lawmakers boycotted the vote as protocol had been broken.

He added that he was not confident the law change could be blocked in future votes so the party would have to consider other measures. "The second step is to encourage the population to organise popular protests and actions," he said.

The MLC has been loosely linked to other opposition parties in talks over a possible anti-Kabila coalition in the likelihood that no candidate would win over 50 percent in the first round.

Kabila has been in power since succeeding his assassinated father in 2001 and won a 2006 election, when he defeated former rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba after two rounds of voting that donors paid hundreds of millions of dollars to organise.

The elections spurred renewed investment in the mining industry but, since then, Kabila has struggled to deliver on many of his promises and the mineral-rich nation remains mired in poverty, corruption and simmering fighting across the east.

Opposition leaders and some analysts have warned that Kabila could win re-election with as little as 20 or 30 percent of the vote, and therefore lack the legitimacy to run the country.

But Information Minister Lambert Mende dismissed opposition to the plan, saying it had more to do with personal interest than concern for the country's future.

"They (the opposition) are scared because they are not prepared. They are not even capable of coming out with a single leader to rule for them, to fight for them," he said.

"They are fighting for a second round not for the sake of the people but so that they can sell alliances. We don't think our country needs to expend three hundred million dollars just to help two or three guys sell their alliances," he added. (Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Matthew Jones)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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