US envoy urges Congo's Kabila to respect law, step aside in 2016
Reuters - 1 hour ago
Russ Feingold, U.S. Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa
and the Democratic Republic of Congo, speaks during a news briefing at
the Palais de la Nation in Kinshasa May 4, 2014.
CREDIT: REUTERS/SAUL LOEB/POOL
(Reuters) - The top U.S. envoy to Africa's Great Lakes region called
on Thursday for Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila
to respect a constitutional term limit and step aside when the country
organizes polls in 2016.
Several African leaders have sought to extend their rule by amending
their constitutions, and speculation is growing that Kabila may seek a
third term despite a two-term limit stipulated in Article 220 of
Congo's national charter.
The president, who came to power after the 2003 murder of his father
President Laurent Kabila and won his first elected term in a 2006
election, has not revealed his intentions. Government officials deny
he plans to alter the constitution.
"Our strong advice is that there is a global election calendar with
the presidential elections no later than the end of 2016, and (that
there should be) no attempt to disregard the unamendable stipulation
of article 220," U.S. special envoy Russ Feingold told a news
conference in the capital Kinshasa.
His comments echoed those of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during
a visit to Congo last month and came at the end of a regional tour
with special envoys from the European Union, African Union and the
United Nations.
Last month Congo's elections commission published details of local,
municipal and urban elections which are due to take place in the
second half of 2015, but a program for a presidential vote is still
pending.
"The local elections are expensive but are not required by the
constitution," said Feingold. "Organizing and financing these, but not
the (presidential) elections, which are required by the constitution,
is not a believable approach."
Feingold said holding elections was crucial for the continued
development of Congo, a vast and disordered Central African nation
where millions have been killed in various internal wars since the
late 1990s, but has seen strong growth in recent years, particularly
in its mining sector.
Kabila's win in the 2011 presidential election came under heavy
criticism following reports of ballot-stuffing and violent
intimidation of political opponents.
During his visit last month, Kerry pledged $30 million in U.S. aid to
support elections as well as to finance recovery and reconstruction
programs in Congo's conflict-ridden east. But a U.S. official said
Washington reserved the right to withhold funds if the elections
process was not transparent and credible.
(Reporting by Peter Jones; Editing by Joe Bavier and Mark Heinrich)
http://www.google.ca/gwt/x?gl=CA&hl=en-CA&u=http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/05/us-congodemocratic-election-idUSKBN0EG2JX20140605&source=s&q=US+envoy+urges+Congo+Kabila+to+respect+law,+step+aside+in+2016
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