Sun City | Friday
REPRESENTATIVES of civil society in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have offered to accept President Joseph Kabila as leader of an interim government.
They told a press conference in the South African resort of Sun City on Friday that they were doing so in a bid to break the six-week deadlock at peace talks being held here and ensure that an agreement on a new political order for the DRC is found before the dialogue ends on April 12.
Kabila’s status is the key sticking point at the talks. The Kinshasa government insists he must lead the country to elections, while rebels say his post should be considered vacant. Both camps have failed to budge in six weeks of talks.
The civil society leaders said other delegates were ”humming and hawing” and a much-vaunted summit of regional leaders in Lusaka on Wednesday had failed to galvanise them into taking decisive action.
They proposed on Friday that the post of prime minister be given to the rebels, the presidency of parliament be given to civil society and deputy prime ministers be chosen from other parties represented at the talks.
DRC Communications Minister Kikaya bin Karubi said earlier that the government is adamant that it will not allow the Sun City dialogue to result in a ”putsch to overthrow the head of state” and takes power-sharing to mean incorporating the rebels into enlarged government structures, with the exception of the presidency.
The rebels however want the DRC to start with a clean slate after the Sun City talks end, saying any power structure, including the presidency, should take its mandate from the resolutions taken at the talks. – Sapa-AFP