Western diplomats met Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila on Saturday in a bid to persuade him to drop plans for amending the countrys electoral law, officials said, after the measure drew violent protests earlier this week. Under Kabilas proposed law, a national census would have to be completed before the next presidential elections, expected in 2016. The government argues a census is long overdue and would allow better management of the country. But the opposition says the new bill is a ploy to keep Kabila, 43, in power beyond the end of his mandate in 2016, as a census would take years to complete in an impoverished country the size of Western Europe. Kabilas proposed bill has angered people across the country. He has been in power since 2001, when he took from his father after the latter was killed. His last reelection in 2011 was marred by widespread rigging, according to observers, and there is simmering discontent over prevailing poverty despite Congos riches in minerals including copper, diamond and gold. Some 42 people were killed in protests since Monday in the capital Kinshasa and other major cities, rights groups say. Protest leaders have called for new demonstrations unless the entire law is withdrawn. The envoys, representing the United States, Britain, France, Belgium, the European Union and the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, met with Kabila at his Kinshasa residence, said a Western diplomat, who asked not to be named. https://in.news.yahoo/western-diplomats-pressure-congos-kabila-end-election-law-135303683.html
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 19:10:36 +0000
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