The submission of candidacies to the Election Commission would end on Wednesday. The majority, the opposition and civil society were called upon to make their choices known, which then had to be validated by a joint committee of the National Assembly, the majority opposition. But there are a number of blockages and the president of the National Assembly has granted another 48 hours for religious denominations to agree on their candidates.
With our special correspondent in Kinshasa, Sonia Rolley
The President of the National Assembly, Christophe Mboso, first received Catholics and Protestants, then the others of religious denominations who agreed on a name. The six minority groups even came to the ward president’s office twice. At the other in the end, they took the plunge and submitted the name of their candidate.
The head of the Awakening Church explained this on Wednesday: he believes that in the absence of unanimity, it was necessary to vote, it was the only option to respect the timetable set by the congregation. It is the congregation that will certify the procedure, he explained. The Assembly that will reveal the name of the future president of Ceni.
For the two main churches in the country, the Catholics and the Protestants, it is a passage that applies. They recall that the leaders of religious denominations had condemned threats. “We can not let the 2018 scenario be reproduced and have an election process under control,” insists Catholics and Protestants. That is why these churches have decided to request a meeting with President Félix Tshisekedi. “When Ronsard Malonda was appointed under the same circumstances last year, the president decided not to support this decision in favor of the consensus path,” we still remember Catholics and Protestants.
It also clung to the opposition. The leaders of Lamuka, Martin Fayulu and Adolphe Muzito, rejected the new law on Ceni, as a way of designating its members. Joseph Kabila’s FCC will also not nominate candidates at this stage. In a statement released yesterday, the co-coalition explains to Kabila that the process is not sufficiently consensual or inclusive. Finally, civic movements are also concerned about this situation. They began to consult with a view to setting a timetable for action.
During the discussion, religious denominations condemned the threats and threats they were victims of. And that’s what happened to the cacophony that took its place during the discussions in Cenco, while we waited for a president of Ceni who was appointed by consensus … Which led us to the same pattern in 2020, which had the candidate Ronsard Malunda, who was appointed on the same terms, shall not be invested by the President of the Republic. This is how the FCC reserves the right to submit documents today pending the denomination of the religious denomination, which reassures all components of the organization of peaceful, credible, transparent and democratic elections.
Lucain Kasongo, deputy for the pro-Kabila platform
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