Regional Observer Mission to the DRC 2006 Parliamentary and Presidential Elections

Arrival Statement

EISA is pleased to announce the official launch of its Regional Observer Mission to the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) scheduled for Sunday, 30 July 2006. The Mission is led by Mr Yusuf Aboobaker, the Chairperson of the Mauritius Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC) and is present in the country at the invitation of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) to observe the historic elections.

The EISA Mission consists of 30 members, including representatives from electoral commissions, civil society organisations and political parties from Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, as well as delegates from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Switzerland.

The overall goal of the Mission is in line with EISA's vision of promoting credible elections and democratic governance in Africa.

The specific objective of the Mission is to assess whether the 2006 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections meet the benchmarks set out in the Principles for Election Management, Monitoring and Observation in the SADC Region (PEMMO), developed under the auspices of EISA and the Electoral Commissions Forum (ECF) of SADC countries. As a reminder, PEMMO is the result of 3 years of work by the ECF and EISA, in consultation with CSOs who work in the field of elections. Subsequently, the election principles which serve as benchmarks in the conduct and assessment of elections in the SADC region were adopted on 6 November 2003 in Johannesburg, South Africa. PEMMO has been applied in the assessment of most elections held since April 2004 to date in the SADC region.

As from Wednesday, 26 July 2006, EISA will deploy teams throughout the country, where they will meet electoral stakeholders, including electoral officials, representatives of political parties, CSOs, and the diplomatic community, ahead of the election day. The EISA Mission will remain in the country until Friday 4 August 2006 in order to observe the poll and vote counting as well as post-polling activities, including the announcement of results.

As from Monday, 31 July 2006, all EISA teams will reconvene in Kinshasa where an interim statement expressing the Mission's preliminary views and recommendations on the 2006 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections will be issued. Principles enshrined in the PEMMO will be inform not only the Mission's observations on the voting processes and the results, but also its assessment of the electoral environment as a whole.

The Mission undertakes to cooperate closely with the DRC electoral stakeholders and other observers, and strives to act, at every stage of the electoral process under scrutiny, with impartiality, objectivity and independence.

EISA is a regional non-profit organisation established in 1996 and headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. The vision of the organisation is to promote credible elections and democratic governance throughout Africa. The vision is executed through the organisational mission to strengthen electoral processes, good governance, human rights and democratic values through research, capacity building, advocacy and other targeted interventions. EISA services electoral commissions, political parties, civil society organisations, governments and other institutions operating in the democracy and governance fields in Africa.

Advocate Yusuf Aboobaker
Chairperson of the Mauritius Electoral Supervisory Commission
Mission Leader