The second round of voting for a new president of the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), if necessary, would be held on October 29,
a top election official said yesterday.
On Sunday, DRC held its first democratic presidential and
parliamentary elections in the past four decades.
Preliminary results of Sunday's voting would come out no later
than August 20, and the Supreme Court would announce the final
results by August 31, said Apollinaire Malu Malu, the chairman of
the independent electoral committee.
If no candidate secured outright victory in the first round of
voting, a second round would be held along with the provincial
parliamentary elections, he said.
If a candidate garnered enough votes in the first round, he or
she would be sworn in on September 10, he said, but adding that the
inauguration ceremony would be postponed to December 10 if a second
round had to be held.
A candidate has to net over half of the ballots to win the
presidency.
(Xinhua News Agency August 1, 2006)
