Comments on Friends of the Congo: Early Results: Sun City by Other Means

I think the solution is best stated by the South A...

2006-08-04T11:45:00.000-05:00

I think the solution is best stated by the South African Ambassador to the DRC, Sisa Ngombane when he says:

"It is true that the provisional results will be announced on August 20. But nothing stops us from finding out which province has results, even the presidential, and the IEC must tell the people that in province A, for example, a particular presidential candidate was number one. The people are uneasy, the commission needs to give the results as they come in, and allow the parties to argue and query them. If this occurs, then it doesn’t allow an atmosphere of rumour and speculation to arise."
Source: http://monuc.org/News.aspx?newsID=12042

Ah Maurice, the question is why is the DRC nationa...

2006-08-03T15:16:00.000-05:00

Ah Maurice, the question is why is the DRC national media held to a different standard than that of the international media and analysts?

Why is it that the DRC's national media has been publicly censored by CEI, HAM for doing the same thing as the various international media including the ones you mentioned? As usual Swing gets into the act in his latest press conference stating that

"The IEC and the HAM remind the media in the same official statement that the electoral law authorizes the IEC only to publish provisional results."

So how is it that the DRC national media is held to a different standard than the international press and analysts...and no one seems to find anything wrong with that?

Thanks for your comments. Below is the response to...

2006-08-03T11:14:00.000-05:00

Thanks for your comments. Below is the response to the issue you have raised:
Yes, you understand correctly, FOTC was invited to observe the elections, which we did.

FOTC Observers have no results to announce, we have simply reported what is in the news and sourced those reports. The Christian Science Monitor, New York Times, Washington Post, Reuters, La Consicence, Voice of America - who interviewed and quoted a CEI representative in its reporting, mediacongo.net, Jason Sterns of the IRC, Brussels, and numerous others have all been quoted regarding the preliminary results. As far as we know, the CEI has asked the Congolese media to be prudent, it has not asked analysts, such as FOTC to refrain from analyzing and interpreting the current political landscape, which include preliminary results.

FOTC's mandate does not issue from the CEI but rather from readers and activists seeking an alternative, in depth view of events in the Congo. We are not aware of any CEI guidelines that require us to suspend our analytical capabilities nor do we believe that analysis of the election results, especially those results widely published by the international media including the US government’s own media organ in the Congo (Voice of America) raises any ethical questions. In fact, to the contrary, questions should be raised if we did not report and analyze this very crucial three-week period in which the final results are expected to be released. We would be doing a disservice to our readers and supporters if we did not explore the key developments of the current situation in the Congo.

Maurice Carney
Executive Director

My understanding was that CEI had decided NOT to r...

2006-08-03T10:08:00.000-05:00

My understanding was that CEI had decided NOT to release preliminary results to avoid problems and in fact Modesto (HAM) was criticizing the press for doing so.

Question: Should the FOTC electoral observers be giving out preliminary results on this blog given that they were invited by CEI (or so I understand)?

I know that here in the USA preliminary presidential results are given out and I don't necessarily agree with CEI and HAM's position. However, as invitees shouldn't you respect the guidelines established by your host?

What is the ethical thing to do?