AFRICA/DR CONGO - No agreement for the implementation of the San Silvestro agreements; Bishops withdraw from the mediation

Tuesday, 28 March 2017 bishops   elections  

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - The Bishops of the Democratic Republic of Congo withdrew from the mediation for the implementation of the San Silvestro agreements, regretting that the discussions that were held at the Inter-diocesan Center in Kinshasa did not reach "a satisfactory outcome for the population".
"The lack of sincere political will and the inability of political and social actors to find a compromise" did not allow to reach an agreement, said Mgr. Marcel Utembi Tapa, Archbishop of Kisangani and President of the Episcopal Conference of the Democratic Republic of Congo (CENC), announcing the withdrawal of the Bishops’ mediation.
Mgr. Utembi Tapa, in reiterating that CENCO cannot endlessly mediate, stressed that it is the responsibility of President Joseph Kabila to find ways to "quickly implement" the Agreement to create a government of national unity that will lead the DRC to the presidential and parliamentary elections within this year.
The issues on which the negotiations for the implementation of the agreements stalled concern the methods of the designation of the Premier, who must belong to the opposition, and of the President of the Monitoring Board of the Agreement. The differences divide not only the majority and the opposition but also the latter which is divided internally. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 28/03/2017)


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