The murderous street fighting between rival candidates in October’s run-off ballot for the Congolese presidency is deplorable; but it has to be seen in context. It is arguable that the former Zaire is misnamed “the Democratic Republic of Congo” because since independence from the Belgians in 1960, there has never been a credible democratic election. July’s presidential poll, in which neither President Joseph Kabila nor his main challenger, Jean-Pierre Bemba, gained 50 percent of the vote for outright victory was the first time the Congolese had really exercised their democratic rights.

At 70 percent, turnout in the first round, in which five candidates were running, was healthy and probably illustrates the enthusiasm with which voters viewed the election. Though there were some irregularities and confusion, the general view of most observers was that the poll was as free and fair as possible in a country totally unused to a genuine democratic process.

Dutch and German troops who had been on stand-by in Gabon, in case of violence on polling day, were not, as it turned out, needed. The situation, however, has now changed dramatically and 400 EU peacekeepers are joining the 17,000 UN contingent, in an effort to restore peace to the streets of the capital, Kinshasa. The violence took its most dramatic turn when 14 foreign ambassadors had to be rescued Monday by EU and UN troops from the home of Bemba when it came under attack, apparently from supporters of Kabila. Ironically the diplomats had gone there to persuade Bemba to stop the invective which has driven his own supporters to violence. Kabila won 45 percent of the vote against Bemba’s 20 percent. Technically it is still possible that if most of the votes of the three knocked-out first-round candidates went to the Bemba camp, its man could win. Both the rivals are former militia leaders and while Kabila now has control of most government forces, Bemba maintains his own private army.

The violent chaos threatens the second round in six weeks. Nevertheless, it must be hoped that the heightened security presence of foreign troops will bring calm to this volatile country. More importantly both leaders must be persuaded that one of them is going to lose in October and when he does, he must go into constructive political opposition, not resort to the violence that has disfigured the opportunities since independence.

The message from the international community must be that the Congo has suffered enough. Brutalized by the Belgian colonialists and thereafter plunged into endless civil conflict, what this potentially very rich country needs is a concerted period of peace and recovery. The legacy of the Mobutu years in which the country’s substantial wealth was plundered by a tiny elite must be ended. Political power must be exercised for the good of the governed not the governors. Firm and careful handling of this present crisis by the international community could still make this lesson stick. But no one should underestimate the difficulties. These are, in a way, birth pangs of democracy.