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UN Security Council urges "peaceful and credible electoral cycle" in DRC

Xinhua, July 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

The UN Security Council on Friday urged "a peaceful and credible electoral cycle" in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), saying that it will help promote stability and development in the country.

"The members of the Security Council stressed the crucial importance of a peaceful and credible electoral cycle, in accordance with the Constitution, for stability, development, and consolidation of constitutional democracy in the DRC," said a statement issued to the press here by the 15-nation UN body.

The council members cited Resolution 2277 as the basis for "an open, inclusive and peaceful political dialogue among all stakeholders focused on the holding of elections," the statement said, adding that the council resolution also called for efforts to ensure an environment conducive to free, fair, peaceful, credible, inclusive, transparent and timely elections in the DRC.

The African country was expected to hold presidential elections on Nov. 27, but international observers and UN officials said the schedule was impossible because only the electoral register in preparation for the vote would take at least nine months.

On May 12, the DRC's Constitutional Court ruled that Kabila could remain in office beyond his mandate if the elections scheduled for November were delayed.

According to the DRC's constitution, President Joseph Kabila, who has been in power since 2001, should step down in December after two five-year terms in office.

Given the political distinctions between different parties in the DRC, the African Union (AU) has appointed Edem Kodjo, the former prime minister of Togo, as the facilitator for the political dialogue in the country.

The members of the Security Council expressed support for the AU decision, the statement said.

They also welcomed the efforts of Maman Sidikou, the special representative of the UN secretary-general for the DRC, and Said Djinnit, the special envoy of the secretary-general for the Great Lakes region, to facilitate the dialogue among political stakeholders, the statement added. Endi