The Congolese opposition has again announced plans to boycott a dialogue organized by the government ahead of local and legislative elections in the oil rich central African country.

Opposition leader and President of the African Congress for Progress, Jean Itadi dismissed the meeting on Thursday in Owando in the country’s north while giving terms for what he called “real dialogue”

“We must not think about what Owando should be between. Rather, we need a real dialogue that brings together all the sons and daughters of the Congo,” Jean Itadi said.

Last March, President Denis Sassou Nguesso and his Congo Labour Party controversially won re-election.

The president joined the Congolese Labour Party which was designated the country’s sole ruling party in 1970. He has been in power since February 1979 when his predecessor – Yhombi-Opango was forced to resign.

In his 38 years’ reign, President Nguesso on several occasions announced plans for dialogue in attempts that looked like push to include opposition in the government set up, but the moves have not yielded much as opposition in Congo have been consistent with snubbing the government over constitutional changes amidst fears that moves are only designed to prolong President Nguesso’s stay in power and control over institutions of government.                 

The government has defended the dialogue as necessary to achieve consensus ahead of the legislative vote to be held in five months. The ruling party is keen to maintain an overwhelming majority.

But the opposition has demanded a structured dialogue which includes power-sharing, constitutional reforms, and the release of political prisoners, key among them General Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko, a former commander who challenged Sassou for the presidency in 2016.

He was charged with treason and convicted.