Newswise — Nicolas van de Walle, government professor at Cornell University whose research focuses on the political economy of development, with a special focus on Africa, says the fight between incumbent president Joseph Kabila and presidential aspirant, Moise Katumba will continue to threaten civil order in Congo.

Bio: http://government.arts.cornell.edu/faculty/vandewalle/

van de Walle says:

“Congo’s evolving constitutional crisis took a new turn when the country’s Constitutional Court ruled this week that Incumbent president Joseph Kabila could remain in power if no elections were convened at the end of this year, as scheduled.

“Since the primary obstacle to elections is President Kabila’s unwillingness to convene them, this disingenuous ruling perfectly suits President Kabila as he is constitutionally barred from serving a third term, but does not want to leave power.

“Kabila has sought to contain political efforts on behalf of elections, including with increasingly aggressive attempts to intimidate the opposition. Popular businessman and ex-Governor of Katanga Province, Moise Katumbi is now attracting special presidential attention, as he has emerged as the most compelling figure in the opposition.

“Notoriously fractious, Katumbi has so far managed to keep key opposition players in his camp, which makes him more dangerous to Kabila. In this country, for which national unity and civil order never seems completely assured, the next couple months will be fraught with danger. Unless the army abandons Kabila, it is hard to see him giving into demands to convene elections and or retire from public life; he is after all still only 44.”

Cornell University has television, ISDN and dedicated Skype/Google+ Hangout studios available for media interviews.

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