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| Africa Subsaharan | |
| DRC: Deal reached for peaceful political transition | |
| 2017-01-02 | |
...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... As part of the deal, President Joseph Kabila will step down after elections get held in 2017. Talks between the government and opposition took place under the mediation of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO). Discussions that began on Dec. 9 finally came to fruition after several blockages. Participants finally agreed on several issues of divergence. The political compromise signed in the presence of diplomats accredited in the DRC under the eye of the Catholic bishops notes: the retention of Joseph Kabila in power until the election and effective establishment of his successor; the primacy is granted to the Rally of the Opposition, which will appoint a Prime Minister; the setting up of a committee to monitor the agreement; the exclusion of any referendum; the organization of elections before the end of 2017; the end of prosecution of pro-democracy movements and opponents. In his speech to the nation, a few hours before the signing of the agreement, Congolese president Joseph Kabila welcomed the agreement that will emerge from these direct talks and called on all the institutions of the Republic to get involved in its implementation. | |
| Posted by:Fred |