Kabila rival Bemba tries for seat in Congo Senate
Source: Reuters
By Joe Bavier KINSHASA, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Defeated Congolese presidential contender Jean-Pierre Bemba stood in senatorial elections on Friday, seeking an upper house seat that will keep him on the political stage as an opponent of President Joseph Kabila. The former rebel leader is one of 1,124 candidates standing for the 108-seat Senate in polls that follow historic presidential and parliamentary elections last year in Democratic Republic of Congo. Senators were being chosen by newly sworn-in members of Congo's 11 provincial assemblies. Bemba is vying for one of eight seats in the capital Kinshasa, where his Union for the Nation coalition won a majority of provincial assembly seats. "I am sure Bemba will be elected. He has every chance of becoming a senator," Bemba spokesman Moise Musangana said. Bemba, more popular in Kinshasa than Kabila, lost to the incumbent head of state in a tense Oct. 29 presidential run-off vote after an election process marked by sporadic violence. Soldiers loyal to the two rivals fought several gunbattles in the sprawling city. Bemba, who received just under 42 percent of the presidential votes, initially complained of cheating but later accepted defeat, saying he would lead the political opposition. "As a senator he can remain on the national stage," said Jason Stearns, a Nairobi-based senior analyst with the International Crisis Group think-tank. Provisional results from the Senate elections would be announced on Saturday, Congo's electoral commission said. Candidates will then have two months to lodge complaints before the results are certified by the Supreme Court. Bemba's decision late last year to join the opposition rather than challenge the outcome of the presidential poll was a relief to many in Congo, where a 1998-2003 civil war killed an estimated 4 million people, mainly through hunger and disease. Some fear a Bemba-led opposition could be marginalised and even forced back on to the streets, particularly as Kabila's majority in the new parliament has allowed his legislators to try to dominate key commissions. Bemba commands strong support in Kinshasa and other parts of the Lingala-speaking west. In contrast, Kabila speaks poor Lingala and his power base lies mostly among Swahili-speakers in the east of the vast, mineral-rich former Belgian colony.
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