Hope and Trepidation in the Congo

So for only the second time since independence from Belgium, Congolese citizens went to the polls yesterday. Although we won't know anything for weeks (can you imagine the lather our pundits would work themselves into in such a situation?), twenty-five million voted. However, like an election in our own backyard, the outcome of the Congolese election threatens to be problematic. The nation has suffered two wars in the last ten years, so merely holding an election is in its own way a triumph. But, tragically, the public doesn't seem to understand that an election's outcome is binding and if one's tribe or ethnic bretheren isn't happy, the appropriate recourse isn't to take to the streets, gun in hand. The unelected incumbent, Joseph Kabila, appears to be the front-runner, though some indicate a great degree of hostility towards him, stemming partially from his failure to provide for the average Congolese. Indeed, according to the Washington Post, many claim that this election is rigged in favor of Kabila. But unlike most allegedly rigged elections, the majority of people seem unconvinced, or at least unwilling to accept that claim. Tellingly, 9,000 people stood for parliament, a sign that many Congolese believe in the process. Regardless of the outcome, be it Kabila or a challenger, I think the most important indicators of stability in this nation far too accustomed to bloodshed will be whether or not the announcement of a victor is greeted with violence. There was only minimal strife leading up to election day (perhaps in part because of the 17,000 UN peacekeepers); future quiet will bode well for the future.