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Misanet.com / IPS, 31 January - A coalition of Congo-Brazzaville's three most influential non-governmental organisations (NGOs) has rejected the outcome of the 20 January referendum for a new constitution, describing it as flawed. Christian Mouenzeo of the Congolese Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) says "the vote took place against a backdrop of manipulation." - Those who did not vote 'no' were summoned to cast a 'yes' vote, he adds. "Besides, voters did not use indelible ink, which meant that many supporters of the current administration could have voted 'yes' several times in the government's northern Brazzaville strongholds such as Mikalou, Talangai, and Ouenze," says Ivan Kibangou Ngoy, president of the Congolese League for Electoral Systems (LICOSE). - And those who were not enrolled were able to vote, according to orders issued by the National Commission for Organising Elections, he claims. Loamba Moke, president of the Association for Human Rights and Prison Issues (ADHUC), also claims there were irregularities. "There were polling places in private homes, soldiers stationed in voting booths, and we saw old and blind people guided to case a 'yes' vote." The referendum, in which 1.6 million voters were registered, gave the ruling party 84.26 percent and its opponents 11.29 percent. Voter turnout was 77.98 percent, according to a Jan 23 statement issued by Pierre Oba, the Minister of Interior. Oba says the new constitution, which strengthens the power of the head of state, will regulate the proposed presidential, legislative and municipal elections to be held in six months time. During the campaign, opposition leaders Pascal Lissouba, the country's former president, and Bernard Kolelas, former prime minister, called on supporters in their Lower Congo and Bouenza, Niairi, and Lekoumou strongholds to boycott the referendum. Lissouba and Kolelas live in exile in London and Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire respectively. According to official figures, the voters did not heed their call. International observers from the European Union (EU) and the Agency for Francophone, while invoking the right of reserve, found no fault with the electoral process, the elections or the preparation of the voter lists. - Everything took place peacefully and nothing suspect occurred in Brazzaville, said an international observer, at the close of the referendum. "No incident which could compromise the credibility of the election results was reported." When the voter lists were drafted it caused a huge outcry by NGOs and the opposition. In particular, the opposition criticised the government for failing to involve them in the process, as the electoral law of 1991 prescribed. - You can't be a judge and participate in elections at the same time, says Come Manckassa, a candidate for the 10 March presidential election. At Makalekele and Moungali, suburbs of Brazzaville, there was no military presence in front of the long lines of waiting voters when the polling opened. On the other hand, a detail of soldiers posted to ensure security, even in voting booths, was visible in the Mafouta quarter, stronghold of Andre Milongo, president of the Union for Democracy and the Republic (UDR), an opposition party. It took strenuous protests from members of the international press corps for the soldiers to allow Milongo to vote freely. Milongo had called on his supporters to vote against the referendum. He claimed that the new constitution would give absolute power to the next president. "We have no guarantee that we will not end up with a [Jean-Bedel] Bokassa [the late dictator of the Central African Republic] with extended powers and with no checks and balances as prescribed by the new constitution." Dismissing opposition's fears, Charles Zacharie Bowas of the National Commission for Organising Elections, cited Charles Debbach, a French constitutional specialist: "No constitution is perfect. The people who use it give their countrymen respect for it." From 1992 to 1998, Congo-Brazzaville went through three bloody civil wars in which the UN Development Programme (UNDP) estimates that 50,000 died. This constitution is the country's 14th in 40 years of independence from France. By Serge-Henri Malet, IPS
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