"It is strange and unacceptable to see that the work for the agreement
takes more time than the drafting and approval of the agreement as
such", said His Exc. Mgr. Marcel Utembi Tapa, Archbishop of Kisangani
and President of the Episcopal Conference of the Democratic Republic of
Congo (CENCO). "It is not normal that negotiators block themselves on issues of division of power, forgetting that the main purpose of the agreement is the organization of the elections", recalled Mgr. Utembi. "Congolese people are losing their patience", added the President of CENCO, who takes charge of the mediation between the parties.
Majority and opposition compete for ministry positions of the national unity government which, as provided for by the agreement of 31 December 2016, will have to organize the presidential elections in 2017.
The opposition itself is divided internally, because - says a note sent to Agenzia Fides by the Peace Network for Congo - "the Grouping of the Opposition (RASSOP) finds it hard to give itself a new direction".
So far, the RASSOP was practically coordinated by a single body, the Committee of Wise Men, of which Etienne Tshisekedi was president. In recent days, RASSOP has reformulated its internal structure, introducing four governing bodies: the Presidency policy, the Council of the Wise, the coordination of actions and Disciplinary Council.
A second step was to appoint Félix Tshisekedi (UDPS) and Pierre Lumbi (G7), respectively, as President of the Grouping of the opposition and president of the Council of the Wise.
However, their appointment was not unanimous and caused dissension, followed by expulsions, but also by various reconsiderations that helped to safeguard the unity of the Grouping itself.
"It is desirable that the Grouping of the opposition solves this internal question regarding its direction as soon as possible, in order to allow the continuation of dialogue with other political forces in the Country, in view of a rapid conclusion of negotiations on practical measures to be taken to the Agreement of 31 December", the statement concludes.