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Opposition parties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Monday urged President Joseph Kabila to resign before the December elections, but ruled out boycotting the vote.
In an exceptional action, five parties signed a joint declaration before the December 23 presidential vote, the result of which is crucial for the sprawling and unstable DRC.
"We will not boycott the elections, because we know from the beginning that it is the ruling party's plan, to push the opposition to boycott the elections," said Delly Sesanga, a supporter of the opposition leader in exile, Moses Katumbi.
The statement – issued two days before the start of a two-week registration period for presidential candidates – and transparent elections
He said the elections were to be held without Kabila as candidate and without the use of electronic voting machines, that the government wants controversial
It was signed by five parties, including the traditional traditional opposition, the Union for Democracy and the Social Progress (UDPS), as well as by parties led by Katumbi and Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former vice-president and former warlord recently acquitted of war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Kabila has been at the helm of the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa since 2001, presiding over a mineral-rich country with a reputation for corruption, inequality
He was just 29 years old when he was took the presidency of his father, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, who was murdered by a bodyguard.
Dozens of people have been killed in demonstrations since the end of 2016, when Kabila was He must leave his post at the end of his second term, technically the last allowed by the Constitution.
Kabila retained power through a constitutional clause allowing him to remain in office until the election of his successor.
That day, Kabila delivered a speech on the state of the nation that had provoked many rumors that he would announce when he would show up again, but no such statement n & # 39; 39 was made.
The DRC has never experienced a peaceful transition obtained the independence of Belgium in 1960. Some experts fear that this will turn into a far-reaching conflict once again if the current political crisis does not occur. Is not resolved.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) ranked the DRC 176th out of 188 countries according to its Human Development Index released in March 2017.
The Transparency International oversight body ranked 156th out of 176 countries. He was ranked 154th out of 180 in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index 2017.
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