DR Congo President Joseph Kabila, has warned foreign and Western powers against interfering in the country’s politics, specifically calling them out for using ‘blackmail’ to influence the electoral process.
Kabila, who ended speculation last week by signalling he would not seek re-election, has been facing Western pressure not to seek a third term after clinging to power when his second and supposedly final stint in office ended in 2016.
‘What we have rejected over these past two years is any kind of imposition, or any kind of blackmail as far as the electoral process is concerned,’ Kabila said in a speech to the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
‘We will continue to be steadfast and be very much alert on this particular issue as we prepare for the upcoming elections by the end of this year,’ Kabila said. He gave no further details.
The tense wait for Kabila to ‘retire’
Kabila hit a two-term limit at the end of 2016 but stayed in power, invoking a caretaker clause in the constitution to remain in office.
In recent months, he kept the international community guessing as to whether he would try to run again.
But on August 8, he put an end to the speculation.
He designated a former interior minister and the head of his PPRD party, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, as the
rul
ing bloc’s candidate in the December 23 elections.
Britain, France and the United States had been urging Kabila to state clearly that he would not seek another term, fearing an eruption of violence if he did not step aside.
On August 6, two days before the deadline for filing election bids, the Financial Times reported the United States was ready to impose further sanctions on the DRC to ‘squeeze’ Kabila’s family and ‘his finances.’
Analyst say Kabila’s move has eased tensions in the DRC but the volatile country remains gripped by uncertainty. Suspicions run deep that Kabila, by picking a loyalist, wants to wield influence behind the throne.
Will Kabila’s exit make DRC less volatile?
Last year, he rejected mediation efforts by SADC which had appointed former Namibian president Hifikepunye Pohamba as a peace envoy.
Bidding farewell to fellow leaders, Kabila, 47, described his long rule as ‘a journey and a mission to reunify the country.’
‘A journey that ultimately led us to the first elections in 2006 and later in 2011,’ he said.
He took over the vast mineral rich country following the assassination of his father Laurent Kabila but his leadership has been stained by a reputation for corruption and stoking conflict.
Namibian President Hage Geingob, who is hosting the SADC summit in Windhoek, thanked Kabila ‘for having carried out the groundwork for elections to take place in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as scheduled in December 2018.’
