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Proponents of Congolese presidential candidate Martin Fayulu celebrate after the opposition coalition chose him to run in the December presidential elections in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. November 12, 2018. REUTERS / Kenny KatombeReuters
KINSHASA (Reuters) – Two leaders of the Congolese opposition announced Monday the signing of a broader agreement to support a single candidate in the presidential election next month, thus ending the hopes of a front. united against the chosen successor of Joseph Kabila.
Felix Tshisekedi and Vital Kamerhe, along with other opposition leaders, had agreed Sunday to drop their candidacies after signing a deal to support businessman Martin Fayulu at of the 23rd of December.
This marked a rare moment of unity for the dissociated opposition of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, whose internal conflicts of recent years have often played in the hands of Kabila, who has ruled the country since the late 1970s. murder of his father in 2001.
Dozens of supporters of the Congolese opposition demonstrated Monday in the capital, Kinshasa, against the choice of Fayulu, former leader and businessman of Exxon Mobil, to confront his favorite successor. , Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary.
Tshisekedi, whose supporters burnt tires and branches during the protest, later withdrew his signature in response to "requests from the party base who did not accept him," his chief of staff, Peter Kazadi, told Reuters .
Kamerhe told Reuters that "the base was angry" and that it had persuaded him to rethink.
Kabila unleashed a political crisis when he refused to resign at the expiry of his second term elected in December 2016, but he surprised many Congolese when he had agreed in August to step down.
The December elections, if they proceeded without incident, would mark the first peaceful transfer of power in this country of Central Africa since the independence of Belgium in 1960.
Several opposition figures, including former Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba and millionaire businessman Moise Katumbi, have been prevented by the authorities from presenting themselves – decisions that the Opposition described political motives.
Some opposition leaders were willing to stick to Sunday's agreement. One of their members, Freddy Matungulu, urged them to stay united.
"For me, withdrawing my support for the agreement is not an option, also because I am convinced that no party can win the elections alone, not even the UDPS (of Tshisekedi), "he told Reuters.
(Report by Stanis Bujakera and Benoit Nyemba, written by Juliette Jabkhiro, edited by Edward McAllister and John Stonestreet)
Copyright 2018 Thomson Reuters.
