In a communiqué issued on 12 September 2016, the national dialogue facilitator, Edem Kodjo, informed that following the opposition’s decision to suspend its participation in the dialogue “consultations had already been undertaken to create conducive conditions for the resumption of the dialogue”.
Kodjo indicated that the opposition feels that “as the presidential election is the cause of the institutional disruption in the DRC, the sequence of elections to be held should start by that election to reduce the constitutional delay”.
The communiqué underlined the views of the ruling coalition as wishing “to hold provincial elections and local elections concurrently” prior to the presidential election. The opposition however is “diametrically opposed to the regime on such a critical item of the dialogue”, added Kodjo.
The sequence in which elections are held will be a defining factor on how much longer president Kabila, banned by the constitution to run for a third term, will extend his stay in power. If the sequence starts with the presidential election, his additional time in power will be shorter than if the sequence starts with local elections.