Congo Catholic bishops urge Kabila to step aside in 2016
Reuters Africa - 2 hours ago
Wed Jul 2, 2014 1:54pm GMT
KINSHASA (Reuters) - The influential Roman Catholic Church in the
Democratic Republic of Congo urged President Joseph Kabila on Tuesday
to respect constitutional terms limits and not seek reelection in the
2016 presidential election.
Speculation has been rife that Kabila will seek to modify the
constitution, which limits a president to two consecutive five-year
terms, but he has not said whether he will run.
The Congo Catholic bishops conference (CENCO) warned him that any
attempt to change the constitution and remain in power could
destabilize the mineral-rich nation which is still recovering from
decades of political turmoil.
"To seek to violate these provisions would set a dangerous precedent
on the long road to peace (and) national unity," read a CENCO
statement published a day after Congo's fifty-fourth independence
anniversary celebrations. The message comes less than a month after
international envoys from the United States, European Union, African
Union and United Nations also urged Kabila to respect his
constitutional obligations and to publish an elections timetable.
Catholics make up about half of Congo's population. In the absence of
a coherent political opposition, the Church has been one of Kabila's
more vocal and influential critics, especially following reports of
ballot stuffing and voter intimidation during his 2011 election
victory.
In their statement, the bishops urged Congolese to "be vigilant in
opposing by all legal and peaceful means any attempt to modify the
locked articles," referring to constitutional provisions that cannot
be changed.
Having won elections in 2006 and 2011, Kabila's final mandate expires
in late 2016, but his political opponents fear he will seek to change
article 220, which bans any change to the article setting out term
limits.
CENCO also urged the government to provide the necessary financial and
material resources to ensure that elections take place within the
time-frame provided by the constitution, which would mean presidential
elections no later than December 2016.
Lambert Mende, Congo's government spokesman, said after the warning by
the international envoys that an electoral calendar would be decided
upon within the deadlines set by the constitution.
(Reporting by Peter Jones; Editing by Bate Felix and Tom Heneghan)
(c) Thomson Reuters 2014 All rights reserved
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