Congo Republic votes, opposition wants boycott

BRAZZAVILLE, Sunday (Reuters)

Congo Republic voted on Sunday in an election widely expected to give President Denis Sassou-Nguesso another seven years in power and which opposition parties are boycotting over what they say are irregularities.

Investors are watching to see whether the vote sparks a repeat of the conflict and rows that have marred previous elections and disrupts political and economic stability in Africa's fifth biggest oil producer.

Polling stations opened at around 0600 GMT in the capital, with few voters lining up in the early hours but numbers starting to pick up later in the morning.

"I have just voted. I hope that the president will win. But if he is re-elected, he must tackle the problem of unemployment, increase teachers' salaries," said 30 year-old Georges Itoua.

Congo has long produced large amounts of oil but Sassou-Nguesso's critics say that only a small elite has benefited from it. He is one of three African presidents whose wealth is being investigated by a French judge.

Opposition parties, citing irregularities in voter lists and cards, had called for the vote to be postponed to allow for the creation of a new election commission and the clean up of voter lists, which were a source of complaints during 2002 polls.

"No one should go and vote on Sunday. Stay at home -- we don't want an electoral hold up or a parody of an election," Clement Mierrassa, head of the Congolese Social Democratic Party, which is part of the coalition calling for a boycott.

The election commission says that some 2.2 million people will be eligible to vote for the 13 candidates. But many say they have not been issued with their cards while opposition parties say an extra 500,000 cards have been printed for fraud.

The European Union has also already criticised the lack of progress made in Congo since elections in 2002.

But the ruling party has mobilised large crowds during campaigning while the divided opposition has struggled to drum up support for its rallies, with some voters preferring to keep the political status quo rather than risk a return to violence.

"You should go and vote for your candidate Denis Sassou-Nguesso in peace. Fear not and go and vote. There will not be any more war in Congo," the president told a final rally.

EU disappointment

Disputes in the lead up to the poll have led to tensions and some residents have left the capital, but analysts say violence is unlikely.

Sassou-Nguesso has been in and out of power since a 1979 coup, losing multiparty elections in 1992 before sweeping back into power in a war that destroyed much of the capital in 1997.