Only three candidates have so far declared that they will stand for president at the election whose first round is due on 27 November 2011. Oscar Kashala Lukumuenda, 56, Chairman of the Union pour la reconstruction du Congo (UREC), put his name forward in September 2009. At the last election in 2006, this medical doctor came fifth in the first round, with 3.46% of the votes cast. Vital Kamerhe, 51, put himself forward in August. He was Speaker of the National Assembly until March 2009, when he was voted out by President Joseph Kabila’s Parti du peuple pour la reconstruction et la démocratie (PPRD). Etienne Tshisekedi wa Mulumba from Kasai, the veteran leader of the Union pour la démocratie et le progrès social (UDPS), also declared in August, from Brussels where he is receiving medical attention.
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