Kabila says the election is on track but remains dumb on his own future

KINSHASA – The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Kabila, said in a speech on Thursday that the presidential elections planned for December would unfold as planned, but he refused to say he could not be sure. he-election

Kabila is barred by the constitution from seeking a third term in the election, but publicly refused to exclude a race. Some of his allies have advanced in recent weeks a legal argument that would justify his candidacy.

If Kabila resigns, this will mark Congo's first democratic transition since the independence of Belgium in 1960, after decades of authoritarian rule. and catastrophic civil wars.

The deadline for candidates for proclamation is a little less than three weeks. But in an address to a joint session of parliament, Kabila avoided saying he would stand.

"The course towards … the election scheduled for December is therefore maintained," said Kabila. He said the government would finance the elections itself in order to avoid "blackmail" by foreign powers who criticized the repeated delays in the vote.

Hitting a provocative tone, he said Congo was not ready to take lessons in democracy "which murdered democracy in this country and elsewhere", a blow to Belgium and others Western countries that supported the overthrow of the independence leader Patrice Lumumba by the autocrat Mobutu Sese Seko in 1961.

The international pressure on Kabila, who succeeded his father murdered in 2001, to leave his post has increased since November 2016 election was postponed. This sparked violent protests in which the security forces killed dozens of people

The United States and the European Union punished several close allies of Kabila for overseeing the repression and obstructed the electoral process, Kabila deplores in his speech. The UN Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council, which met on Thursday in New York, "expressed concern over the remaining challenges for build confidence "in the electoral process

. all political parties, their supporters and other political actors to remain committed to the Agreement of 31 December 2016, which is the only viable outcome of the current political situation. "

Under an agreement reached on December 31 between Kabila's representatives and opposition leaders, Kabila is forbidden to try to change the constitution to seek a third term. [19659004] In an apparent attempt to push Kabila to the exit, the Congolese parliament on Wednesday pbaded a law expanding the financial privileges of former presidents, including pensions, housing, security, medical care and a diplomatic pbadport. [19659004FormerpresidentsalreadyenjoyconsiderablelegalimmunitySenatorsinLife

In his speech, Kabila also extolled his merits during his 17 years in power, notably by stabilizing inflation and unifying a country fractured by the civil war, critics say the economy is benefiting a narrow slice of the population as armed conflict continues to rage in large numbers. part of the country.