Kabila will not run for a third term , his party nomintated Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila will not stand for re-election in December, a government spokesman has announced.

Kabila’s ruling coalition nominated former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary as its presidential candidate, Lambert Mende, the government spokesman, said on Wednesday.

The move put an end to years of speculation on whether Kabila would defy terms limits.

Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi, reporting from the capital Kinshasa, said Ramazani’s nomination came as a surprise.

“Over the days, several names [of Kabila’s replacements] have been floating around, but his name never really featured,” she said.

“The nomination came after a long consultation between the president and his coalition.”

The uncertainty about Kabila’s intentions raised concern over the last few days, she said.

“But now that has been cleared and analysts are telling us that these tensions that have been in the country could deescalate,” she said.

Kabila, whose second term officially ended in 2016, is constitutionally ineligible for December’s poll, although his rivals accused him of wanting to stay in power.

 

The country has seen wide spread anger over what some see as Kabila’s refusal to relinquish power after the end of his second full term in December 2016.

Kabila came to power in 2001 after the assassination of his father, Laurent-Desire Kabila, the country’s third president.

He was elected in 2006 in the DRC’s first democratic election since it gained independence from Belgium in 1960.

Kabila secured a second term in 2011, though that election was plagued by allegations of widespread voter fraud.