http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5323809&no_ga_tran=1&no_na_tran=1 A RAY OF HOPE IN THE HEART OF AFRICA Dec 19th 2005 Voting has been extended in a referendum that marks the first democratic, nationwide vote in Congo in four decades. If endorsed, a new constitution should allow for general elections in 2006 and might help establish democracy after years of war and dictatorship. The future of this resource-rich and massive country, the size of western Europe, may do much to influence Africa's prospects as a whole IT IS one thing to end a war; quite another to keep the peace, hold fair elections and see a decent government installed. As in Iraq, another resource-rich and hard-to-govern country that matters greatly to its region, the Democratic Republic of Congo is supposed to be leaving behind dictatorship and conflict in favour of democracy. A referendum on a new constitution, which began on Sunday December 18th, marks an important moment in that process. Despite some violence and intimidation, many of the roughly 24m registered voters, from the bustling streets of Kinshasa, the capital, to remote jungle villages that are reached only by canoe, turned out to approve (or not) a new set of institutions for the former Belgian colony. One more piece of good news about democracy taking hold around the world. Good luck to the people of the Congo
'Yes' vote takes early lead in Congo referendum KINSHASA (Reuters) - The "Yes" vote in Democratic Republic of Congo's referendum on whether to accept a post-war constitution took a strong early lead on Tuesday after a poll seen as paving the way for elections next year, officials said. Sunday's vote was the first independent election to be held in the vast central African country for over 40 years, a period during which it has suffered dictatorship, wars and chaos. "From votes counted across the country, the 'Yes' has 78.47 percent and the 'No' has 21.03 percent," Apollinaire Malu Malu, president of the Independent Electoral Commission, told reporters in Kinshasa. He said votes had been counted from 12,200 — nearly 34 percent — of the 36,000 polling stations nationwide. http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1426347 Almost 80% of the population apparently agrees that debate, not civil war is the answer. What a shining example this could be for the rest of Africa. Sorry to see that there's not much interest in democracy taking hold around the world. I would have expected more comment both here and in the Afghani parliament treads. I'm joining the Dammit! fanclub here. Go Democracy!
Don't worry. As soon as COngo's military gets hold of a couple biplanes and few used Lund fishing boats, war with Rwanda will break out when they Rwandan troops still refuse to leave Congo. This is good news but Congo has a long way to go.