DRC opposition coalition picks united candidate, Martin Fayulu

<p>Main opposition parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo, <span class="caps">DRC</span>, have chosen Martin Fayulu as their candidate for the long-delayed December 23 elections. </p> <p>The agreement was reached after talks in Geneva under the auspices of the Kofi Annan Foundation. The new coalition is called Lamuka and had seven signatories.</p> <p>Fayulu and four others are among the twenty-one passed to contest in the elections. The two others are banned former vice-president, Jean Pierre Bemba, and former governor of Katanga Province, Moise Katumbi.</p> <p>The other members of the coalition are: Vital Kamerhe (<span class="caps">UNC</span>), Freddy Matungulu Mbuyamu (<span class="caps">CONGO</span> <span class="caps">NAS</span> <span class="caps">BISO</span>/SYENCO), Adolphe <span class="caps">MUZITO</span> (<span class="caps">NOUVEL</span> <span class="caps">ELAN</span>) and Felix Tshisekedi (<span class="caps">UPDS</span>).</p> <p>“In order to bring this political struggle to a successful conclusion, the Lamuka coalition voted to select Mr. Martin Fayulu Madidi as the common candidate for the presidential election on 23 December 2018,” Freddy Matungulu, a coalition member told reporters after the declaration.</p> <p>Fayulu, who turns 62 on 21 November, is the president of the opposition party Commitment for Citizenship and Development. </p> <p>His appointment, greeted by applause and shouts of joy from some of the Congolese present. Others expressed surprised because Félix Tshisekedi, president of the historic opposition party (<span class="caps">UDPS</span>) seemed to be the likely candidate.</p> <p>Fayulu becomes the main opposition candidate to face the ruling party’s candidate Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, a former interior minister. He was picked in August after outgoing president Joseph Kabila confirmed that he was not going to seek a third term.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="fr" dir="ltr">Communiqué final de la rencontre de l’opposition <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RDC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RDC</a><br /> ?? création de la coalition <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Lamuka?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Lamuka</a><br /> ?? candidat commun de l’opposition : <a href="https://twitter.com/MartinFayulu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"><code>MartinFayulu</a> ! <a href="https://t.co/xnb6PdO1i0">pic.twitter.com/xnb6PdO1i0</a></p>&mdash; Ensemble pour le Changement (</code>Ensemble_MK) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ensemble_MK/status/1061684993783672834?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

In order to bring this political struggle to a successful conclusion, the Lamuka coalition voted to select Mr. Martin Fayulu Madidi as the common candidate for the presidential election on 23 December 2018