Has the UN Congo mission tried too hard to be impartial?.

MONUSCO has been reluctant to criticize the preparation of elections. In part, as I have written here before, this fits in with the mission’s aim of re-establishing good relations with the Congolese government. To an extent, they are right: Little can be achieved by the mission without cordial relations with their counterparts, and this relationship slipped badly during the latter year of Alan Doss‘ term. When Roger Meece arrived as the new head of the peacekeeping mission last year, he took it upon himself to re-dynamize that relationship, and has in large part succeeded.   However, this has meant that the mission has at time shied away from criticism, particularly with regards to the electoral process…