Zaire installs first election delegates .
KINSHASA 1996-08-29
A total of 116 delegates to Zaire 's National Election Commission ( CNE ) were formally installed on Thursday , launching another phase of the Central African nation 's much-delayed democratic transition .
The 116 , representing political parties in the capital Kinshasa , will help organise a voter census , a constitutional referendum planned for January and efforts to brief potential voters on what balloting involves .
A total of 9,446 delegates will be deployed throughout Zaire 's 11 provinces for the elections , which must be held by July 1997 under the transitional constitution .
Presidential , parliamentary and municipal elections are planned for May .
" We can meet the required deadlines for organising the elections .
All that is needed is for everyone to show goodwill , " Commission spokesman Yoka Lye Mudaba told reporters .
Delegates to the commission from the other 10 provinces will be installed progressively from next week with the provinces of North and South Kivu , Maniema , Shaba and Bandundu having priority , he said .
The installation of delegates was initially scheduled for July .
Officials said lack of funding had delayed the process .
President Mobutu Sese Seko , who seized power in a 1965 coup , introduced a multi-party system in 1990 but Zaire 's transition has lagged well behind that of other states in the region .
In the past , Mobutu has been elected without opposition .