UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
9 Mar
2009
Press Review 18 February 2005
Government's shakeout, discussions about the possible postponement of the elections and Belgian Minister of foreign affairs' visit to DRC are the major issues covered by today's local press.
President Joseph Kabila signed a presidential decree on cabinet shakeout yesterday» L'OBSERVATEUR writes, indicating that « Roger Nimy has come back to the cabinet as Minister of Sports and Leisure whilst Paul Musafiri has been reassigned Minister of Agriculture from Ministry of Home affairs and José Makila appointed Minister of Public Works». The three ministers are from the MLC component known as Movement for the Liberation of Congo.
Under the headlines, «CIAT-UE laboratory has decreed: Elections to be prolonged until December», LE PHARE refers back to the declaration made by the Special Envoy of the European Union for the Great Lakes Region, Aldo Ajello with respect to the DRC electoral process, indicating, «The European Union has made it clear that the elections will not possibly take place by 31 December 2005. The possibility of prolongation was allowed for in the All-inclusive agreement, signed on December 2002 in South Africa». The paper considers «Aldo Ayello's statement about the prolongation as doubtlessly a result of the consultations held by William Swing of the Ciat in Brussels with Javier Solana, Aldo Ajello and Louis Michel ».
LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES comments the same issue and refers to Karel De Gucht as being «sceptical» about the holding of the elections by 30 June 2005. The quotes the Belgian minister of foreign affairs as declaring in yesterday's press conference, «it is no longer possible for the Congolese people to vote 30 June 2005, in spite of the government' goodwill». The paper says the talks between President Kabila and Karel De Gucht were «tense», quoting the Belgian Minister as declaring «Talks with President Joseph Kabila were a bit tense following the incident you all know».
LE POTENTIEL reports «the incident created by the Belgian Minister by distributing CVs of some Congolese transition leaders while on board the aircraft taking him to Kinshasa» and writes: «Another jarring note around Karel De Gucht in DRC: Heads are going to roll in Brussels». « The incident has already caused an uproar in Brussels. The affair has reached the Parliament and the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs who is to be interpellated; some MPs want him to resign».
LE PALMARES, in turn, thinks, «Kinshasa and Brussels are close to diplomatic incident». «The minister circulated 50 copies of President Joseph Kabila and Vice-President Azarias Ruberwa's Curriculum Vitae, while on board the plane taking him to Kinshasa». The CV reads: « President Kabila's mother is from the Nile and his father is not the late President M'Zée Laurent Désiré Kabila and Azarias Ruberwa, he could be either Rwandan or Viura from Burundi», the paper says.
With respect to the Belgian minister of foreign affairs' visit to the DRC, L'AVENIR notes «Karel De Gucht interpellates DRC political leadership». For the paper, «the Belgian minister of foreign affairs has warned the Congolese leaders against the minor internal political stakes likely to undermine the electoral process. De Gutch had therefore declared himself in favour of a broader national union government after the elections ».
L'OBSERVATEUR, for its part, writes «security issues in Eastern DRC» were discussed by the meeting between Joseph Kabila and Karel De Gucht. « Security in that part of the DRC is contingent upon MONUC's effective functioning» the paper says, echoing the Belgian minister of foreign affairs who «did not hide his satisfaction over the deployment of the Pakistani contingent to the East, which he finds most reliable».
Under the headlines, «CIAT-UE laboratory has decreed: Elections to be prolonged until December», LE PHARE refers back to the declaration made by the Special Envoy of the European Union for the Great Lakes Region, Aldo Ajello with respect to the DRC electoral process, indicating, «The European Union has made it clear that the elections will not possibly take place by 31 December 2005. The possibility of prolongation was allowed for in the All-inclusive agreement, signed on December 2002 in South Africa». The paper considers «Aldo Ayello's statement about the prolongation as doubtlessly a result of the consultations held by William Swing of the Ciat in Brussels with Javier Solana, Aldo Ajello and Louis Michel ».
LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES comments the same issue and refers to Karel De Gucht as being «sceptical» about the holding of the elections by 30 June 2005. The quotes the Belgian minister of foreign affairs as declaring in yesterday's press conference, «it is no longer possible for the Congolese people to vote 30 June 2005, in spite of the government' goodwill». The paper says the talks between President Kabila and Karel De Gucht were «tense», quoting the Belgian Minister as declaring «Talks with President Joseph Kabila were a bit tense following the incident you all know».
LE POTENTIEL reports «the incident created by the Belgian Minister by distributing CVs of some Congolese transition leaders while on board the aircraft taking him to Kinshasa» and writes: «Another jarring note around Karel De Gucht in DRC: Heads are going to roll in Brussels». « The incident has already caused an uproar in Brussels. The affair has reached the Parliament and the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs who is to be interpellated; some MPs want him to resign».
LE PALMARES, in turn, thinks, «Kinshasa and Brussels are close to diplomatic incident». «The minister circulated 50 copies of President Joseph Kabila and Vice-President Azarias Ruberwa's Curriculum Vitae, while on board the plane taking him to Kinshasa». The CV reads: « President Kabila's mother is from the Nile and his father is not the late President M'Zée Laurent Désiré Kabila and Azarias Ruberwa, he could be either Rwandan or Viura from Burundi», the paper says.
With respect to the Belgian minister of foreign affairs' visit to the DRC, L'AVENIR notes «Karel De Gucht interpellates DRC political leadership». For the paper, «the Belgian minister of foreign affairs has warned the Congolese leaders against the minor internal political stakes likely to undermine the electoral process. De Gutch had therefore declared himself in favour of a broader national union government after the elections ».
L'OBSERVATEUR, for its part, writes «security issues in Eastern DRC» were discussed by the meeting between Joseph Kabila and Karel De Gucht. « Security in that part of the DRC is contingent upon MONUC's effective functioning» the paper says, echoing the Belgian minister of foreign affairs who «did not hide his satisfaction over the deployment of the Pakistani contingent to the East, which he finds most reliable».
