AFRICA/DR CONGO - "No elections in the DRC within the end of 2017", state the Austro-African Countries

Tuesday, 22 August 2017 elections  

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - Elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo cannot be organized by the end of 2017. This is what the Austro-African Development Community (SADC) noted at the summit that ended on Sunday, August 20 in Pretoria, South Africa.
The Heads of State of the 15 SADC States (Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe) after establishing the existence of issues that prevent the holding of elections by December, have approved the appointment of a special envoy to the DRC, who will have the task of "following the electoral process".
South African President Jacob Zuma called on the Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) to make known the updated electoral timetable.
SADC's statement is in line with what CENI says but is against the recent US, UN Security Council and European Union position, which are in favor of holding presidential elections by the end of the year, in accordance with the December 31 agreements (see Fides 28/7/2017). Meanwhile, the opposition has launched a protest schedule to demand the resignation of President Kabila by December 31 (see Fides 27/7/2017). (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 22/8/2017)


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