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Cape Town – Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) opposition leader Bonga Bogaine has expressed confidence in the upcoming visit by the United Nations officials, saying it will encourage talks between the government and opposition parties.

The UN Security Council is expected in the DRC next week to gauge tensions over the holding of presidential elections.

The 15 council envoys would visit Kinshasa, Goma and Beni from November 10 to 14 for talks with President Laurent Kabila, opposition leaders and civil society.

Talks were halted in September after the main opposition block, Rassemblement, set pre-conditions for attending.

The Rassemblement’s demands reportedly included freeing political prisoners, lifting existing bans on several TV stations and the resignation of Kodjo.

Inclusive process 

In an interview with News24, Bogaine said that the visit would help encourage talks between the government and the opposition parties.

“We appreciate the UN visit to the DRC. We have signed the 2277 agreement, which requires all parties to negotiate for democratic processes to be in place. We need to have an inclusive process,” said Bogaine.

He said that the opposition was happy that the AU was also going to be part of the upcoming negotiations.

“We are also happy that the African Union would be part of the process towards building an inclusive agreement. At the beginning we were not happy over the processes that were led by Edem Kodjo, former chairperson of the Organisation of African Unity. But this time we believe that we need an inclusive process,” said Bogaine.

Tensions in the DRC arose following a controversial court ruling that allowed Kabila to remain in power beyond the two consecutive presidential terms permitted by the country’s constitution.