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DRC aims to stave off election violence

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- The government in Democratic Republic of Congo said election rules don't favor the incumbent as rival parties meet in Ethiopia to stave off a crisis.

Political delegates from the DRC are in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for a two-day meeting aimed at preventing conflict ahead of November elections.

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Opponents of incumbent President Joseph Kabila say changes in the polling system put them at a disadvantage. Kabila's government, however, said it's trying to address voter registration fraud that was a contributing factor to political violence in 2006, the BBC reports.

Police in early September used tear gas to disperse opposition supporters marching on an electoral commission building.

Recent DRC conflict was linked to tensions between Kabila's People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy and opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi's Union for Democracy and Social Progress.

Earlier this month, the U.N. Stabilization Mission in the DRC called on all parties to the conflict to sit down at the negotiation table after a recent outbreak of political violence.

Officials at the country's Independent National Electoral Commission said more than 31 million people, about 6 million more than in 2006, registered for this year's vote.

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