French polynesia heads to the polls on Thursday, with the biggest vote yet in a contest that has gripped islanders and fuelled widespread anxiety over immigration.
The polls suggest an inconclusive result for the centre-left Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with around a third of voters heading for the centre party that has won nine seats in parliament.
The country has faced growing calls for more powers and a closer relationship with Washington as its government struggles to cope with millions of internally displaced people and poor governance.
Analysts have warned that as many as 2 million Congolese refugees are likely to seek asylum in neighbouring countries including Uganda and Rwanda.
The election comes four years after the UN failed to elect a new president, sparking a political crisis that has divided the UN and the country.
DRC Independence Party (COPINH) leader Joseph Kony has become a mainstay골목 in Congolese politics as he is charged with orchestrating a mass-scale killing of hundreds of thousands of people over nearly two decades that also fuelled ethnic and religious tensions.
The UN on Wednesday accused the leader of perpetrating one of the worst massacres in modern 골드 카지노Africa, while human rights organisations criticised the election results as undemocratic.
Image caption A pro-Kony protest in October drew crowds as huge crowds protested outside the UN building
Image copyright AFP Image caption A video posted on a YouTube channel shows a man trying to make his way through rubble with an aid worker
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Some people carried black flags – some of them with Mr Kony on the front, as well as other pro-Kony banners
The polls will decide whether Mr Kony, a leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) – an offshoot of the anti-Bashar al-Assad rebel group in northern Sudan – is forced out of the country by the government of President Joseph Kabila, or become the next president of the republic after years of transitional elections.
A new leader may not be named until May, and there are already concerns it is difficult to make sure his candidate gets the backing of the majority.
Congolese troops have been conducting a ground offensive against the Lord’s Resistance Army over the last year, but it has not been an effective strategy, leading to accusations that they are being left to fend for themselves.
As the DRC head prepares to head to the polls, several foreign observers h포항안마ave already visited the country to assess the situation.
The BBC’s Ji
