Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila has appointed Bruno Tshibala, 62 years old, as the new prime minister to lead the government until presidential elections later this year. As expected, Mr Tshibala's appointment has been rejected by the opposition, including his own political party, UDPS and world major powers.
A day after the nomination, the European Union has rejected the nomination. In a statement issued on Saturday, April 8, 2017, the European Union (EU) denounced the nomination, pointing to the lack of consensus among President Kabila, the opposition, and CENCO, the Roman Catholic Church association of bishops.
The EU said that the appointment violated the spirit of the December 31, 2016 Agreement brokered by the CENCO, between the opposing parties.
Mr Kabila was supposed to step down late last year after his legal second and final five-year term ended. He refused to hold elections and, consequently, to hand over power. His refusal to step down and to organise the elections has led to national wide deadly demonstrations by opposition supporters and the repression by Mr Kabila's notorious republican guard and police. Meanwhile, Mr Kabila has called-in foreigh troops to reinforce his republican guard.
The EU has urged the Congolese leaders to abide by the UN Security Council resolution 2348, which calls for the immediate implementation of the CENCO deal. During the last UN Security Council meeting on DRC, the United States Ambassador Nikki Haley, qualified Joseph Kabila's government of being "corrupt" and preying on the Congolese people. It is expected that the US Government will also officially reject Joseph Kabila's appointment of Bruno Tshibala.
AfroAmerica Network has also learned that DRC opposition leaders may be actively considering their options, given that Joseph Kabila may seek to ignore the objections to Bruno Tshibala's appointment. Already, major oppositions parties have announced country wide demonstrations for April 10, 2017.
