The will be no elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) before 2019. This was revealed by the national independent electoral commission (CENI) which said it needs 504 days after the ongoing census, to organize any poll.

What is to known is that the actual census will last many more weeks, in the Kasaï regions where many conflicts are taking place. It is therefore very likely that there will be no elections before the first quarter of 2019 and President Joseph Kabila (picture), whose last term ended on December 20, 2016, will thus remain in power till then.  

The new development thus definitely buries the Saint-Sylvestre agreement signed between the ruling party and the opposition, last December 31. Under the latter’s terms, presidential, legislative and local elections were to be held before the end of 21017.

As a result, tensions between the two parties should soon resurface. While the news about the elections’ postponing was announced, the UN Security Council was holding a meeting on the DRC, in the presence of the country’s representative at the United Nations, Maman Sidikou.

Servan Ahougnon