The Congo and the Contest over Term Limits in Africa

Analysis The decision this week by President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to stand down from seeking reelection when his country holds elections in December addresses a deeply controversial subject in Africa: the status of term limits on presidential leaders. For his part, responding to considerable diplomatic and civil society pressure, Kabila chose to select a regime insider to stand in his place on December 23, and acquit himself of the escalation of Western sanctions – and security risk to his person – that he would have otherwise faced. The idea of term limits of …

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