Republic of Congo condemns French party's "patronizing intrusion"

Republic of Congo's ruling party, Congolese Labour Party (PCT) on Tuesday termed the recent appeal by France's Socialist Party (PS) for the postponement of presidential elections as "patronizing intrusion."

The French party had called for the postponement of Republic of Congo's presidential elections, denouncing lack of "freedom of expression" for the opposition candidates during electoral campaigns.

In a statement issued Tuesday by its secretary general, PCT expressed outrage and reiterated that "the Republic of Congo is a sovereign state."

PCT noted that Congo was not under a state of emergency, nor was there any violation of fundamental freedoms, and "wondered why the PS made such a request when normal campaigns were going on", according to the statement.

"Each candidate has been freely allowed to formulate his manifesto and deploy his campaign team across the country without any restrictions," it affirmed.

In a statement broadcast on international media, the French Socialist Party condemned the "surveillance" that opponents of incumbent President Denis Sassou N'guesso had been subjected to, equating the situation to "an unjustified state of emergency."

In its statement, the French party equally raised the issue of "a poisonous climate" for the electoral campaigns that began on March 4.

Further, the PS asked concerned international organizations such as the African Union, the European Union and the United Nations to use their influence to have the presidential elections postponed.

Nine candidates, including the incumbent president, are contesting the March 20 presidential elections. Enditem