Civic education ahead of elections scheduled for June is of "utmost importance" to sensitise the public for the democratic process, the head of the Democratic Republic of Congo's Independent Electoral Commission, Apollinaire Malumalu, has said.

Describing the Democratic Republic of Congo as being at a ?critical stage? ahead of landmark 18 June elections, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today met officials in the east of the country, saying that he felt Congolese were excited at the prospect of electing their own leaders and ending the long, bloody civil conflict.

Thousands of party supporters of veteran opposition politician Etienne Tshisekedi marched through the streets of the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, on Wednesday demanding that their Union pour la democratie et le progres social (UPDS) be integrated into the country's election organisational structures.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), on Tuesday for a three-day visit, on the fourth and final leg of his African tour.

Elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are a near certainty, despite the obstacles that threaten a smooth transition to democracy. What is largely uncertain, however, is how stable the country will be in the aftermath of the polls.

Registration offices for candidates in the Democratic Republic of Congo's presidential and legislative elections opened on Friday in the capital, Kinshasa.

Parliament has adopted a bill giving the Independent Electoral Commission 110 days to organise national democratic elections as soon as Congo's President Joseph Kabila signs the document into law, the commission's second vice-president, Norbert Bansegezi Kantintima, said on Wednesday.

President Joseph Kabila has promulgated the Democratic Republic of Congo's new constitution and new flag, a move that paves the way for the beginning of the country's electoral process, expected to end with presidential elections midyear.

The Supreme Court of the Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed the results of a constitutional referendum held on 18 December 2005, in which 84.3 percent of the votes cast were in favour of the draft constitution, the court's president, Lwamba Bindu, said.

An overwhelming number of voters have approved a new constitution put to a referendum in December 2005, which is expected to lead to general elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, official results of the poll show.