DRC to hold presidential run-off

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has to hold a a second round of voting for president as none of the 33 presidential candidates have won an outright majority in the first round of voting, according to the officially announced election result.

President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo won 44.81 percent of votes in the country's historic July 30 elections, followed by his closest challenger Jean-Pierre Bemba, with 20.03 percent of votes, said Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) chief Apollinaire Malu Malu Sunday on state television.

Antoine Gizenga, a veteran opposition politician in his 80s, came in third place with 13.06 percent of vote.

Turnout during the July 30 elections was 70 percent of the 25 million voters registered, the CEI said.

The announcement of the result of DR. Congo's landmark presidential election scheduled for late Sunday was delayed by heavy exchange of gunfire outside the CEI.

The shootout between guards of Kabila and those loyal to Bemba started at about 6:00 p.m. local time (17:00 GMT), two hours before the result is scheduled to be announced at by the CEI at a press conference. The shootout lasted for nearly four hours.

It is reported that the shootout left one guard of Bemba dead and several people injured.

According to the constitution of the Democratic Republic of Congo, if no candidate wins an outright majority in the first round, a second round will be held between the top two runners.

The DRC, a former Belgian colony, held on July 30 its first democratic presidential and legislative elections since independence in 1960. About 80 percent of the total 25 million registered voters nationwide cast their ballots.

The country, with an area of 2.34 million sq km and a population of 54.8 million (2004 estimate), is the third largest country on the African continent. A civil war broke out in 1998, and ended officially in 2003, claiming nearly 4 million lives.

Kabila took office as the DRC's transitional president on Jan. 26, 2001, following the assassination of his father, former DRC president Laurent-Desire Kabila.

His strong opponent Bemba is one of the four vice presidents in the transitional government. He enjoys wide support in western areas around Kinshasa, while Kabila is believed to be strong in his native east.

The run-off between them is provisionally set for Oct. 29.

The United Nations dispatched 17,000 peacekeepers, its biggest peacekeeping mission, to the DRC to oversee the election process. The European Union has also sent more than 1,000 peacekeepers to the nation.

To ensure fairness and transparency in the election process, the international community has dispatched more than 1,700 election observers.

Source: Xinhua