President will not run in delayed Congo vote
International pressure rising since late 2016
KINSHASA, Congo — Congo’s president is not running again in December’s long-delayed elections, easing concerns by the opposition and international community that he would try to stay in office and positioning one of Africa’s most turbulent nations for what could be its first peaceful, democratic transfer of power.
President Joseph Kabila will remain influential, however. He chose former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, the ruling party’s permanent secretary, as the candidate for the newly formed Common Front for Congo coalition. Kabila is considered its moral authority.
The 57-year-old Shadary is among nine Congolese sanctioned by the European Union last year for obstructing the electoral process and related human rights violations.
After submitting his candidacy, Shadary praised Kabila, saying he kept his word about not running for another term and that the submission was made under his moral authority. “The people need peace,” he said.
Observers quickly asked how much power Kabila might assert behind the scenes.
“He’s using the strategy (of ) Putin-medvedev,” said another candidate, Martin Fayulu, referring to the years that the Russian president shifted into the prime minister’s seat because of term limits while his longtime ally, Dmitry Medvedev, was elected president.
International pressure had been growing on Kabila and his government over the election delay since late 2016, with the United States in June taking the unusual step of announcing visa bans on several Congolese senior officials but not naming names. It cited their involvement in “significant corruption” related to the electoral process.
Demonstrations over the delay turned deadly, with Pope Francis and others appealing for calm after police in January used tear gas to disperse ambassadors and others at a mass at Kinshasa’s Catholic cathedral to honor protesters killed.