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Republic of Congo's main opposition party rejects dialogue offer

Xinhua, January 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Republic of Congo's main opposition party, Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS) Friday said it will not take part in any national dialogue whose agenda is amendment or non-amendment of the Constitution.

"No to amendment of the Constitution! No to participation in any dialogue whose agenda is not exclusively to discuss preparation for the 2016 polls," UPADS's first secretary Pascal Tsaty Mabiala said in Brazzaville.

"UPADS will strictly limit talks to one issue; management of elections. This is because maintaining constitutional order is a non-negotiable issue," he affirmed.

The idea of holding a national dialogue has been advanced by the ruling party, Congolese Labour Party, which has expressed its support for amendment of the Constitution.

The country's Constitution which came into force in 2002, limits presidential terms to two and the age of presidential candidates to 70 years. These constitutional provisions cannot be amended.

Having been re-elected in 2009, President Denis Sassou N'Guesso, 71, is serving his second and last seven year term that will end in July 2016. Endi