The European
Parliament published a resolution on
the follow-up of the elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo on 14 June.
It is a disappointing benediction of Kabila’s struggle to hold on to
power. Kabila is gradually securing an important diplomatic objective as time
goes by: European recognition as Congo ’s de facto leader.
The question of electoral legitimacy is fading out of the diplomatic debate.
European MPs lack either
the political will or the understanding of the Congolese political landscape to
issue a more meaningful declaration. The only relatively harsh statement in the
resolution is that results of the November 28th elections remain ‘questionable’
due to ‘the lack of proper monitoring of these key electoral processes’.
Given the honest and
critical report of the EU monitoring team led by Maria Nedelcheva, we could
have expected European MPs to take a firmer stance.
Their resolution can be interpreted as wishful thinking for improved
governance, utopian sentiments about Kabila’s good intentions, or worse –
outrageous cynicism (we don’t really approve of Kabila but given his
vulnerability we can deal with him and can carry on with business-as-usual).
Does anyone really care about the Congolese? Apparently European Members
of Parliament do not.
Sir. As for your interpretations of Europe's attitude to the Congo (and Africa in general) I'd put my money on outrageous cynicism, the coltan flows so it's business as usual.
ReplyDelete