Congo Elections Won't Be Held Before April 2019
- Body organizing election says preparations need 504 more days
- President agreed with opponents to step down after 2017 vote
Joseph Kabila arrives to deliver a speech at the Palace of the People in Kinshasa on April 5, 2017.
Photographer: Junior D. Kannah/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo that were due last year won’t be held before April 2019, the electoral commission said, a delay that undermines a pact President Joseph Kabila’s supporters made with his political opponents for him to step down this year.
The commission said in a statement that it will need 504 days to organize the polls once it completes the enrollment of voters. The body says it has finished the registrations in all of Congo except the conflict-ravaged Kasai region, where it began in early September and said it will take three months.