Imagine then not having the right to vote at all.
That was the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) before last week’s Presidential and Parliamentary elections, for which I had the privilege to be one of the European Union’s team of official observers.
Indeed, as life expectancy in this vast African country is well below European standards, hardly anyone old enough to vote last time Congo had elections was alive to see the return to democracy.
The EU and especially Britain have supported the DRC on the long road to elections on July 30. Our financial assistance has been tremendously important to these friendly and industrious people who yearn to develop their great potential through the use of natural resources – from oil and diamonds to the water from the River Congo itself.
This potential has been suppressed for years, first under the dictatorial rule of Mobutu and more recently by a series of violent of civil wars, which have left the country in ruins and some four million of its people dead. Many are living on the poverty line and thousands of soldiers, teachers and civil servants rarely get paid their salary.
This is a country the size of Western Europe but lacking in basic infrastructure (with the exception of an excellent mobile phone network). What roads exist are of a very rudimentary standard and electricity supplies are patchy; after the polls closed on election night we counted ballot papers by the light of torches and car headlights!
And yet as more than 50 percent of Congo’s population turned out to vote on Sunday, hopes were high that things would change.
The international community has under-written the Congo election to the tune of some $500 million, making it by far the most expensive UN assisted election in history. Part of the huge cost has been the printing of ballot papers, 1,800 tonnes of them, in South Africa.
And the vast size of the Congo, coupled with its lack of roads, meant distributing the papers was a huge task. In some cases ballot papers had to be transported by foot to more remote areas.
The 33 Presidential candidates all fitted onto an A3 sized ballot paper but these were dwarfed by the enormous papers for the parliamentary contest; each voter was presented with an almost unmanageable 6 flip-chart sized sheets from which to choose one representative!
Voting was calm and remarkably well organised. People stood patiently in line for hours to exercise their right to vote, something few in this country would do! As one elderly man in the Congolese capital Kinshasa put it: “After waiting 45 years another five hours doesn’t seem very long”.
As one of official election observers, tasked with ensuring a fair and democratic election, I felt the conduct was remarkable, especially considering the country had so little recent experience on which to build.
By the time I left Congo on Tuesday it was still unclear who would emerge as President of this vast nation. The Congo’s constitution, which was accepted by a referendum last December, provides for a system that mirrors the French Presidential model, meaning the top two candidates will fight a play-off on 29 October.
Early indications are that this playoff will be between incumbent president, 35-year-old Joseph Kabila, and his main challenger, Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, one of Congo’s four vice-presidents.
The millionaire businessman Bemba is leader of the MLC (Movement for the Liberation of Congo) but has a track record that includes time in charge of rebel forces in the north of the country. Indeed there are still outstanding accusations of war crimes and human rights abuses against him that may need to be answered.
The youthful Kabila was installed as President after his father Laurent was killed by his own guards in 2000. He has encouraged the international community to invest in Congo and is credited by supporters with the country’s current, albeit fragile, stability. But critics say he has failed to do enough and accuse him of using his position to manipulate the election.
It remains to be seen whether all the hopes and optimism for Congo will be fulfilled.
How the loser and his supporters react when the result is finally confirmed will be crucial to determining whether the 45-years of turmoil ends and whether Congo can live up to its name not just as a democracy but as a fully fledged republic, ready to play its full part on the international stage.
Robert Evans is Member of the European Parliament for London and was part of a 12-member parliamentary election delegation Congo.
