Kinshasa: A top ally of Congolese President Joseph Kabila on Saturday raised the possibility of a constitutional referendum.
This is in a bid to alter the number of terms President Kabila can serve. This defies opponents and western powers who insist Kabila should leave office this year. Term limits in Democratic Republic of Congo’s 2006 constitution bar Kabila, who has ruled the central African country since 2001, from running for a third elected term in a presidential poll scheduled for November.
The government, however, has said the election is likely to be pushed back because of budgetary and logistical problems. The country’s constitutional court ruled last month that Kabila would remain in office if the vote does not take place on time.
Kabila would likely face more opposition to any such move. Yet in a speech to thousands of supporters at a rally in the capital Kinshasa to celebrate Kabila’s 45th birthday, the secretary-general of his PPRD party, Henri Mova Sakani, said a constitutional referendum was an option. “If the people decide to go to a referendum, they are going to do it,” he said.
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