Congo coalition rules out Kabila

KINSHASA. — Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila will not be seeking a third term in December’s election, his spokesperson has said.

The governing coalition has nominated former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary to be its candidate.

President Kabila’s second term ended in 2016, but elections have been delayed and there had been speculation that he would run again.

Eight other candidates registered to run ahead of today’s deadline.

Mr Shadary will face former VicePresident Jean Pierre Bemba, who returned to the DR Congo last week after being acquitted of war crimes at the International Criminal Court.

Bemba was greeted by a mammoth crowd on his return to the country after 11 years at The Hague.

Felix Tshisekedi, who leads the largest opposition party, is also among the front-runners.

But another favourite, Moise Katumbi, the former governor of the mineral-rich Katanga province, who has been on a self-imposed exile, will not take part after being blocked by authorities from entering the country.

Shadary has been a key supporter of Mr Kabila.

His tenure as interior minister was marked by a violent crackdown on opposition politicians and their supporters, and the arrest of activists, the BBC’s Anne Soy reports from the capital, Kinshasa.

He is among eight senior DRC government officials targeted by European Union sanctions last year, our correspondent adds.

Kabila became president when his father Laurent Kabila was assassinated in 2001. He was elected in 2006, and secured another term in controversial elections in 2011. — BBC.