Coming to the end of his tour of duty, Jean-Michel Dumond, European Union Ambassador to the DRC, urged on all political stakeholders to participate in the dialogue slated to start today.
“We have urged and still urge all political stakeholders to join this dialogue which is starting on 1 September 2016», Dumond said.
The forum was initiated by the Head of State in order to lead to “peaceful” and “credible” elections. However, many opponents boycott it, requiring of the government to meet certain prerequisites including the release of political prisoners.
Jean-Michel Dumond acknowledged the mistrust prevailing amongst political actors and called upon to the government for “ease the political tension”.
“We are indeed aware of the mistrust that still persists. And our concern is that the government maintain the momentum and release all prisoners of conscience and re-open all media that were closed,” Dumond stressed.
According to the diplomat, the EU sees that it is “vital to arrive at a political consensus that allows the country to organise elections as planned by the constitution”