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Congo sets date for next legislative elections. Will Congolese Labour Party dominance finally end?

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The government of Congo has revealed that the Central African country will be having its next legislative elections on July 10.

The announcement was made on Friday by a government spokesman, Thierry Moungalla, on state television Télé-Congo in a report on the Council of Ministers.

“The Council of Ministers has decided to convene the electorate for the first round of legislative elections and for local elections on July 4 for the vote of members of the public force, and on July 10 for the general vote,” said Moungalla,

Moungalla revealed that the dates were chosen “in view of the complexity and heaviness of the preparatory operations (…) to allow for their optimal execution”,

The date of the second legislative elections, which aim to renew the National Assembly, has not been set.

Congo’s veteran president, Denis Sassou Nguesso, was re-elected with 88.57 percent of the vote, in 2021. Sassou Nguesso, 77, has been in power for an accumulated 36 years, first taking the helm of the central African state in 1979.

Nguesso’s Congolese Labour Party (PCT) will be 79 years old in 2022 and almost 38 years old at the head of the country, is the leading party of the majority and has already invested its candidates. It has 92 deputies out of 151 in the outgoing Assembly.

The only opposition party with a parliamentary group in the lower house of parliament, the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS), intends to take part in the elections.

Politics

Kenya’s Ruto wants global support for Haiti

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Kenya’s President William Ruto wants the United Nations Security Council to officially support the mission to the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti.

Kenya, an East African powerhouse, is active in Haiti, and recently announced it was ready to be part of a multinational force. It committed to deploy 1,000 police officers to the country and  “accepted to positively consider leading a Multi-National Force to Haiti.”

Ruto, during his address, insisted that the Caribbean country “deserves better from the world.” “Kenya is ready to play its part in full, and join with a coalition of other nations of goodwill – and there are many— as a great friend and true sibling of Haiti,” Ruto said while addressing world leaders.

Haiti begged for assistance last year to fight off vicious gangs that had largely taken over the city of Port-au-Prince.

According to diplomats, the council might vote on a U.S.-drafted resolution endorsing the deployment of international police as early as next week.

U.N. peacekeepers were deployed to Haiti in 2004 after a rebellion led to the ouster and exile of then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Peacekeeping troops left in 2017 and were replaced by U.N. police, which left in 2019.

Haiti has been without any elected representatives since January and countries across the world have been cautious about supporting the unelected administration of Prime Minister Ariel Henry who has argued that fair elections cannot be held with the current insecurity.

Violent crimes, including kidnappings for ransom, armed robberies, and carjacking are prevalent in the country.

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Sudan: One country, two UNGA addresses, as armed factions stake claim

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The ongoing civil war in Sudan played out on the global scene at the United Nations General Assembly as heads of rival military factions gave competing addresses at the world meeting on Thursday.

Clashes between the army under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan’s transitional government’s Sovereign Council, and army troops loyal to General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the council’s deputy leader who controls the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), have led to the destruction of facilities.

The conflict, which broke out in Khartoum in mid-April and extended to other regions of the country, including the western area of Darfur, displacing more than 5 million people and posing a threat to the region’s stability, was blamed on both sides.

Army chief, al-Burhan urged the international community to label the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as a terrorist organisation and to take action against its financiers outside of Sudan’s borders while speaking from the stage at UN headquarters in New York.

On the other hand, RSF leader, Dagalo, known as Hemedti, in a rare video recording from an undisclosed location, said that his forces were fully prepared for a ceasefire and comprehensive political talks to end the conflict. Hemedti has primarily communicated recently through audio messages, and his whereabouts have been a subject of conjecture.

“Today we renew our commitment to the peaceful process to put a halt to this war,” Hemedti said. “The RSF are fully prepared for a ceasefire throughout Sudan to allow the passage of humanitarian aid … and to start serious and comprehensive political talks.”

Repeated declarations of a ceasefire by both the army and the RSF, as well as claims that they are looking for a resolution to the war have not been able to halt the carnage and the worsening of the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

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