EU deploys long-term electoral observers to DR Congo's 11 provinces

The electoral observer mission of the European Union (MOE EU) has already deployed long-term electoral observers to the 11 provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), a statement from the mission said on Friday. On Oct. 24, 2011, 46 long-term observers were deployed to each of the 11 provinces in the country to monitor the presidential and parliamentary elections set for next month. The Central African country already kicked off the election campaigns on Friday. According to the statement, 12 observers will use the road to monitor the elections in Kinshasa, Bas-Congo and Bandundu provinces, while 34 other observers will use aeroplanes to monitor the electoral process in other provinces. The last team of observers was sent to Uvira in South-Kivu province on Thursday. As many as 92 short-term observers will reinforce this team starting on Nov. 21 and this will bring the total number of MOE EU observers to 147. The preliminary announcement from MOE EU will be made 48 hours after the closure of the voting exercise and the mission's final report will be released at least four months after the elections. The experienced electoral observers chosen to observe DR Congo's forthcoming elections are aged 28 to 70 years, representing the 27 EU member countries, Canada and Switzerland. The security of the teams of observers on the ground will be provided by liaison officers charged with the operational and security aspects in each of the zones where they have been deployed. In order to achieve this, the liaison officers will have to work closely with the local authorities and the United Nations Mission for Stabilization of Congo (MONUSCO). MOE EU promised to present an impartial evaluation of the electoral process in conformity to the national and regional judicial framework, as well as to the international standards ratified by DR Congo.