PRESIDENTIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

That this House recognises the critical importance of the presidential and parliamentary elections due to take place in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on28 November 2011; calls on the UK Government and international community to act to help ensure the elections are free and fair; notes the commitment of successive UK Government administrations to supporting the democratic electoral process in the DRC and to working to eradicate levels of violence, particularly against women; further notes that there will be 62,000 polling stations for a population of over 71 million in a country the size of Western Europe and therefore calls on the international community, including the UK, USA and EU to send adequate numbers of impartial international election observers; further calls on all stakeholders to do more to deliver adequate impartial domestic and regional election observers; further recognises the importance of the elections in securing democracy in the DRC and the importance to regional stability that these elections are transparent and secure; and further calls on all political parties to respect the rule of law and conduct their campaign in a non-violent manner.