International News

KINSHASA, (MILLAT+APP/AFP) – Congolese Prime
Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo resigned Monday to make way for an opposition figure to take his place following talks aimed at averting a political crisis.
“I have offered my resignation as well as those of the members of my
government… to respond to the spirit and the letter of the accord,” said
Matata as he left a meeting with President Joseph Kabila, referring to the deal struck after a political dialogue boycotted by the main opposition parties.
DRC’s political crisis deepened last month after a presidential
election, which had been due before the year’s end, was postponed until April 2018.
The opposition has accused Kabila, who has been in office since 2001,
of manipulating the electoral system to stay in power after his second term ends on December 20.
The decision to delay the vote was taken in October by the government
and fringe opposition groups following a “national dialogue” — boycotted as a sham by much of the opposition — aimed at calming soaring political tensions.