DRC: Moïse Katumbi presidential candidate of December 2023

Moise Katumbi, a businessman and former governor within the Democratic Republic of Congo, introduced Friday he’ll stand within the nation’s presidential election in December 2023.

His announcement got here in opposition to a backdrop of violence within the nation’s east after combating resumed on Friday between M23 rebels and rival armed teams after 10 days of relative calm.

Within the DRC, the presidential ballot is held similtaneously parliamentary, provincial and native elections.

The president-elect would then take workplace in January 2024.

President Felix Tshisekedi got here to energy in January 2019, succeeding Joseph Kabila after 18 turbulent years as chief.

It was the nation’s first peaceable handover of energy.

He has already introduced his intention to run for a second time period, regardless of clashes over the outcomes.

Different doable contenders might embody Martin Fayulu, the runner-up within the 2018 presidential polls who claims he was disadvantaged of a victory within the vote.

Augustin Matata Ponyo, one other ex-premier, has stated he’ll run.

Tshisekedi’s inauguration ceremony in 2019 capped greater than two years of turmoil sparked by Kabila’s refusal to step down when he reached the constitutional restrict on his time period in workplace.

The final two presidential elections earlier than that, in 2006 and 2011 — each received by Kabila — had been marred by bloodshed and dozens died in a crackdown on protests after he selected to stay in workplace in 2016.

A rustic the scale of continental western Europe, the previous Belgian colony lived by way of two regional wars in 1996-97 and 1998-2003.

M23 rebels, a principally Congolese Tutsi group, resumed combating in late 2021 after accusing the DRC of getting didn’t honour an settlement to combine its fighters into the military.