(9 Dec 2018) Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila is stepping down after this month's election, but he doesn't rule out seeking the post again in the future.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Kabila said he hoped to continue to be active in tackling the vast challenges that remain in this mineral-rich nation.
He said he had done what he could for Congo's benefit since taking office in 2001 after the assassination of his father, Laurent Kabila. But he said there was more to be done.
But the opposition fears that Kabila will rule from the shadows after stepping down if his preferred successor, ruling party candidate and former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, wins on December 23.
The 47-year-old Kabila dismissed those concerns, saying the constitution made it clear that such an arrangement was not possible. Yet he now acts as moral authority for a recently created political coalition, the Common Front for Congo, keeping himself close to power.
Kabila is eligible to run again for president in 2023, as Congo's constitution merely rules out three successive mandates. For now, he said he would likely remain in the role of adviser.
The prospect of more Kabila for years to come reminds many Congolese of the long rule of Mobutu Sese Seko, who led the troubled country for more than three decades.
The Democratic Republic of Congo now faces what could be its first democratic, peaceful transfer of power since independence from Belgium in 1960. At stake is a vast country blessed with trillions of dollars in natural resources but long destabilized by dozens of rebel groups.
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