DRCongo president to leave after 2017 vote

Описание: (1 Jan 2017)
Political parties in Congo signed a deal late on Saturday that calls for President Joseph Kabila to leave power after an election that now will be held by the end of next year instead of mid-2018 as his party originally proposed.
The New Year's Eve agreement comes after months of unrest that left dozens dead and threatened to further destabilise the vast Central African nation with a painful history of dictatorship and civil war.
Catholic church officials had mediated talks to reach a compromise and initially imposed a Christmas deadline.
The negotiations reached a stalemate, though, and resumed again on Thursday under mounting pressure to avoid major violence amid opposition calls for Kabila to step down.
Officials announced that a deal had been reached Saturday evening on the major issues though representatives did not sign it until around 11 p.m. local time (2200 GMT) on New Year's Eve.
Monsignor Marcel Utembi, president of the church body known as CENCO, hailed the progress but acknowledged the challenges still ahead with implementation.
Neither Kabila nor opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi was present to personally sign the agreement Saturday.
Under the deal, the vote will be organised by the end of 2017 though some details still need to be finalized. That process could reveal other disputes.
Still, the agreement to not modify the constitution effectively blocks Kabila from rewriting it so that he can seek a third term, a major victory for the opposition.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...