Kinshasa: A DEAL aimed at ending DR Congo's political crisis caused by President Joseph Kabila's clinging to power is close but will not be signed before Christmas, mediators said yesterday.
"It is an illusion to think of a signature today", but "we could reach a consensus during a plenary session this afternoon", said a source in the Congo National Episcopal Conference (CENCO) recently.
The unstable, mineral-rich nation has been thrust into political turmoil by Kabila's refusal to step down after his second and final five-year term, which officially ended on December 20.
But yesterday morning, a source in CENCO, which is presiding over the negotiations, said tersely: "There have been complications."
A mediator subsequently said that "the signature could now be between Christmas and the New Year".
The working document for the deal, envisages a "political transition" with delayed presidential elections to be held at the end of year 2017.
