Kabila Meets with Opposition Leader Ahead of Results

News is coming out of the DRC that current President of the DRC Joseph Kabila is negotiating a safe exit deal with an opposition candidate.

Preliminary results show the ruling party candidate Shadary is in fact finishing in third position. Opposition leader Martin Fayulu of the Lamuka coalition is showing an extensive lead but perhaps unsurprisingly Kabila and the ruling elite are reluctant to surrender power to him.

Therefore, it is being reported that Kabila is hoping for a deal with a unity government that includes both Tshisekedi and Shadary. Whilst Tshisekedi’s people have confirmed these reports Kabila has denied them.

Members of opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi’s campaign said they spoke with representatives of Kabila’s hand-picked candidate, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, in meetings aimed at promoting national reconciliation.

Kabila and Tshisekedi “have an interest in meeting to prepare for the peaceful and civilized transfer of power,” Jean-Marc Kabund told a news conference at which he said Tshisekedi was the “presumptive winner”.

Tshisekedi’s spokesman, Vidiye Tshimanga, later said Kabila and Tshisekedi had not met personally since the election but that their representatives had convened several times.