Bemba accepts defeat in DR Congo

KINSHASA – Jean-Pierre Bemba, who lost presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, accepted defeat on Tuesday after his legal challenge to the result was thrown out by the Supreme Court.

Bemba said he felt “great disappointment and frustration at the manner in which the Supreme Court dealt” with his case on Monday before it proclaimed that the incumbent Joseph Kabila had won the October 29 election. “Nevertheless, in the higher interest of the nation and a desire to keep the peace and prevent the country sliding into chaos and violence, I today undertake before God, the nation and history, to pursue the fight for change in a strong and republican opposition,” he said in a statement.Three times since late August, the city centre has been wracked by violence involving Bemba supporters, riot police, and on one occasion, Kabila’s troops, claiming nearly 30 lives.Part of the Supreme Court was set ablaze last week.A Kabila ally, Information Minister Henri Mova Sakanyi, told AFP late Tuesday that he hoped Bemba was “sincere” about heading a political opposition within democratic institutions.”We hope that this is sincere and that he will follow through with his democratic intentions,” said Sakanyi, a member of the presidential alliance.He added that ex-rebel chief Bemba must “stop considering himself as a warlord” and avoid the temptation “to keep a part of the army” for his own service.UN Secretary General Kofi Annan sent his congratulations to Kabila and the Congolese people and called on all DRC opposition leaders and their supporters to peacefully accept the final election results.Kabila, who is Africa’s youngest president at 35, has a mandate to rule the DRC for five more years, after the first free elections in more than four decades that have been marked by conflict and corruption.The European Union in Brussels congratulated Kabila on Tuesday and pledged support, as did the representatives in Kinshasa of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council of the United Nations.The ambassadors in the DRC of the Security Council powers issued a statement of “warm congratulations” to Kabila and also commended Bemba on “a significant and respectable electoral score.”Bemba thanked those who voted for him and issued a rallying cry to “all political and social forces, committed to the ideal of a democratic change in our country, to unite in this fight so that together, reorganised, we can ensure the rebuilding of the Congo.”Nampa-AFP”Nevertheless, in the higher interest of the nation and a desire to keep the peace and prevent the country sliding into chaos and violence, I today undertake before God, the nation and history, to pursue the fight for change in a strong and republican opposition,” he said in a statement.Three times since late August, the city centre has been wracked by violence involving Bemba supporters, riot police, and on one occasion, Kabila’s troops, claiming nearly 30 lives.Part of the Supreme Court was set ablaze last week.A Kabila ally, Information Minister Henri Mova Sakanyi, told AFP late Tuesday that he hoped Bemba was “sincere” about heading a political opposition within democratic institutions.”We hope that this is sincere and that he will follow through with his democratic intentions,” said Sakanyi, a member of the presidential alliance.He added that ex-rebel chief Bemba must “stop considering himself as a warlord” and avoid the temptation “to keep a part of the army” for his own service.UN Secretary General Kofi Annan sent his congratulations to Kabila and the Congolese people and called on all DRC opposition leaders and their supporters to peacefully accept the final election results.Kabila, who is Africa’s youngest president at 35, has a mandate to rule the DRC for five more years, after the first free elections in more than four decades that have been marked by conflict and corruption.The European Union in Brussels congratulated Kabila on Tuesday and pledged support, as did the representatives in Kinshasa of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council of the United Nations.The ambassadors in the DRC of the Security Council powers issued a statement of “warm congratulations” to Kabila and also commended Bemba on “a significant and respectable electoral score.”Bemba thanked those who voted for him and issued a rallying cry to “all political and social forces, committed to the ideal of a democratic change in our country, to unite in this fight so that together, reorganised, we can ensure the rebuilding of the Congo.”Nampa-AFP