The Washington Free Beacon quotes Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham in an article about the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo attempting to hold onto power as elections and mandatory retirement near:

“The poor nature of [Kabila’s] governance for the last decade and a half leaves him very few good options,” said Dr. J. Peter Pham, Director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center. “The only way he can hold on is to figure out a way without violating the constitution to make the elections impossible, or at least to delay them. That’s the game plan.”

[…]

“It’s a very clever little strategy because if you look at it purely in the abstract as someone who’s interested in local accountability, grassroots governance … it sounds like a great idea that can be sold as such,” said Pham.

“But the reality is it’s a cynical game being played. It’s not being done for good governance purposes. What it’s being done for is to run the clock, and spend the money, and this time next year we’re going to realize there’s no way to hold any election in this country.”

Read the full article here.

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