Commission expects presidential vote delay to Dec 2018

The head of Democratic Republic of Congo’s electoral commission said on Saturday that he expects the presidential election, originally scheduled for this November, to be delayed until December 2018, lawmakers present at his speech said. The announcement is likely to stoke political tensions after at least 50 people died last week in the capital Kinshasa […]

The head of Democratic Republic of Congo’s electoral commission said on Saturday that he expects the presidential election, originally scheduled for this November, to be delayed until December 2018, lawmakers present at his speech said.
The announcement is likely to stoke political tensions after at least 50 people died last week in the capital Kinshasa in clashes between protesters and security forces over accusations that President Joseph Kabila is deliberately delaying the poll to cling to power.
Kabila denies he is behind the delays, which he says are due to logistical and budgetary constraints in the impoverished, infrastructure-starved country.
Commission president Corneille Nangaa told delegates at multi-party talks, intended to reach a national consensus on the election date, that the commission would finish updating the voter registry at the end of July 2017.
It would then require an additional 504 days to organize the vote, he said, according to representatives of the delegations who spoke to reporters after the closed door meeting.