Bandundu town, 8 July 2011 – The voters' registration exercise which kicked off on April 2 in Bandundu province is going well, according to estimates by the Independent Nation Electoral Commission (INEC). Nearly everybody in the province who has attained the legal voting age has been registered, according to the electoral body which said to date it has registered 3 500 000 voters. The initial projected number of the voting population in this province, which is larger than Burundi and Rwanda combined. By the closing date of this exercise, which was officially set to 10 July, more people were still waiting to register.

Talking to the members of a high-level delegation, which arrived in Bandundu town on 8 July, representatives of INEC said they were satisfied with the registration exercise.

The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and Head of the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), Mr. Roger Meece, led the 20-member delegation, which included the Vice-President and the Rapporteur of INEC, as well as representatives of the African Union, the European Union, and several other foreign diplomats.

During their short visit, the members of the delegation met with the provincial authorities and UN officials working in the region.

The Head of MONUSCO re-assured INEC and its partners in Bandundu of the UN's continued support for the ongoing electoral process. "The new [Security Council] Resolution [1991], which gives MONUSCO its mandate, underlines the significance of transparent, free and democratic elections," he told them shortly before returning to Kinshasa. "And of course," he added, "we are all working to ensure a peaceful process." Mr. Meece also reminded his audience that part of MONUSCO's mandate was to provide support to INEC, in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Despite the encouraging results in the electoral process, many challenges lay ahead. Among these are the long distances prospective voters cover to get to the registration centers, the frequent computer glitches and the delays in the whole operation in some districts. It is against this backdrop that provincial lawmakers called for an extension of the registration period beyond the legal deadline of 30 June 2011.

"We are fully aware of the difficulties [people are encountering], but we are determined to push ahead," the Vice-President of INEC, Prof. Jacques Djoili, said. "We will end all operations on 10 July," he added, heeding the call from the population for extra time to allow everybody to register.

Jeef Ngoy M. / Radio Okapi/ MONUSCO