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MEPs to #DRC and #Gabon presidents: 'Respect the rule of law'

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eu-report-casts-doubt-over-gabons-election-outcome-youtube-thumbnailThe results of 2016 Gabon’s presidential election are "non-transparent and highly doubtful", say MEPs in a resolution, voted on Thursday, on the rule of law crises in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Gabon. They also call on the Congolese authorities to hold credible elections before the end of 2017.

Condemning all the election-related violence perpetrated in Gabon and in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), MEPs call for full, thorough and transparent investigations into alleged serious human rights violations in both countries.
Gabon’s President Ali Bongo and the DRC’s President Joseph Kabila should guarantee human rights and fundamental freedoms and govern "with the strictest respect of the rule of law", urge MEPs in the resolution, which was approved by a show of hands.
Gabon
MEPs question President Bongo’s legitimacy, noting that the official 2016 presidential election results are "non-transparent and highly doubtful". They are deeply concerned about the unfolding violence which followed the proclamation of the results.

The resolution condemns the intimidation of, and threats against, members of the European Union election observation mission, led by MEP Mariya Gabriel (EPP, BG), and urges the Gabonese government to "conduct a thorough and expeditious reform of the electoral framework to improve it and make it fully transparent and credible.”

Democratic Republic of Congo

MEPs urge all political players to engage in a peaceful and constructive dialogue and call on the EU to support the implementation of the agreement reached in late December 2016 denying a third term to President Kabila and calling for the election to take place before the end of 2017.

The Congolese government should "immediately address open questions related to the sequencing of the electoral calendar, its budget and the updating of the electoral register in order to allow free, fair and transparent elections", MEPs add.

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