The Democratic Republic of the Congo on Wednesday was seeking financial assistance so it can organize presidential elections scheduled to take place in November, dpa reported. Minister for International and Regional Cooperation Raymond Tshibanda said his government is short of 40 per cent of the necessary budget to hold the elections on November 28, with the newly elected leader to be sworn in a month later. "The security situation is today stabilized practically over the whole of national territory," Tshibanda told an open session of the UN Security Council, which was reviewing the situation in that country. Tshibanda said Congo's institutions are now working "harmoniously" and democratically. He did not provide a figure for the elections budget and did not say whether President Joseph Kabila is running for a new term. The Kinshasa government last year asked the large UN peacekeeping operation to drastically draw down its forces and let it handle its own security.
