KINSHASA, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- The operation to review the electoral register in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) will take 16 months and could be completed in September 2017, the electoral commission boss said on Monday.
The head of the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) Corneille Nangaa was speaking in Kinshasa during the presentation and demonstration of the electoral kits to civil society leaders.
Nangaa noted that the deadline will put pressure on CENI, but affirmed that all technical processes are necessary.
The operation will be much more difficult since it will have to be carried out in 310 communes, 147 territories and 88,000 villages.
Speaking last week while on a visit to Uganda, DR Congo President Joseph Kabila said the elections will be held after the operation of registering voters. The process was kicked off on July 31, 2016 by CENI.
"At the moment, we are registering voters. It is a process that will take some time until we have a proper electoral register. It is after the operation that an electoral calendar will be published," Kabila said.
According to DR Congo's Constitution, Kabila's second five-year term is supposed to end on Dec. 19, 2016.
The country's opposition parties have been calling for the organization of elections before the end of the year when Kabila's term ends.
