July 10, 2017•Update: July 10, 2017
By Godfrey Olukya
ARU, Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo opposition parties and human rights activists on Monday blasted the country’s elections chief saying that polls to elect a new president are unlikely this year.
"The parameters at our disposal give us, more or less, reason to think that, in December, it will probably not be possible to stick to that date," Corneille Nangaa told France's TV5Monde on Sunday, referring to a December deadline set under an agreement reached late last year.
Nangaa cited security concerns in the central African country's Kasai region and a lack of resources as the main factors holding back elections this year.
But Francis Kale, a chief mobilizer in the opposition coalition, told Anadolu Agency on Monday: ''The deadline must be respected. Elections must be held before the end of this year. We will cause chaos if they are not held. We will hold demonstrations''.
Andre Claudel Lubaya, leader of the opposition UDA party, Sunday called on Nangaa to resign, along with President Joseph Kabila as he failed to hold elections within the deadline.
Hubert Tshiswaka, director of the Human Rights Research Institute, in a statement Monday condemned Nangaa’s announcement, saying he expects an electoral program instead.
When Kabila failed to leave office after his term expired last December, the opposition held riots in which dozens of people died. In peace talks brokered by Catholic bishops, it was agreed that new elections would be held by the end of 2017.
