A couple of blog posts ago, I summarized some of the complaints leveled against Abbé Malu Malu, the head of the Congolese electoral commission. He has now responded to some of these criticisms in a somewhat heated interview with Radio Okapi (transcript here).
In sum, he says:
- There is nothing in the constitution that says when local elections have to be held. This is true, although a calendar issued by the electoral commission several years ago has been revised numerous times now;
- The new law on the electoral commission (CENI) says that its predecessor (CEI), led by Malu Malu, remains in power until CENI is named by the national assembly. (You can read the law here);
- He will not be the head of the CENI.
Merci, Monsieur l’Abbé. I just wish they had asked you why the presidential elections are pushed back until November 2011, and why you are now re-issuing electoral cards to the whole country.