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Month: April 2018
Trump: North Korea’s Kim ‘Very Honorable’
President Donald Trump says he expects to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “very soon” and praised Kim as being “very open” and “very honorable.”
“We have been told directly that they would like to have the meeting as soon as possible. We think that’s a great thing for the world,” Trump said Tuesday after talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
“We’ll see where that will all go,” Trump added. He repeated that he was willing to walk away from talks with North Korea but stressed “I think we have the chance to do something very special.”
The White House has said the ultimate goal of any negotiations between Trump and Kim denuclearization, adding the United States’ “maximum pressure” campaign on Pyongyang will continue and sanctions on the isolated country will not be lifted until concrete actions are taken towards complete and total denuclearization.
When asked what complete denuclearization means, Trump said “It means they get rid of their nukes, very simple.”
“We’re not going to take the North Koreans simply at their word,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday in response to a question from VOA News about recent declarations by Pyongyang.
“We’re not naïve in this process,” added she said. “We’ve seen some steps in the right direction, but we have a long way to go.”
Kim has announced a freeze of nuclear weapons tests and intercontinental ballistic missile launches.
Trump on Sunday appeared to infer that the North Korean leader had already agreed to give up his nuclear arsenal, despite such no such announcement from Pyongyang.
The president said on Twitter, “We haven’t given up anything & they have agreed to denuclearization (so great for World), site closure, & no more testing!”
Although South Korea has said the North has expressed interest in doing away with its nuclear weapons, Kim, however, in Saturday’s testing freeze statement, indicated North Korea’s nuclear arsenal would remain intact, calling it a “powerful treasured sword” that would firmly guarantee “our descendants can enjoy the most dignified and happiest life in the world”.
Experts skeptical
Nuclear and missile proliferation scholar Joshua Pollack of the Monterey Institute of International Studies says: “I’m not at all convinced Kim Jong Un has any interest in discussing his nuclear arsenal with anyone else. He’s made his move and we can take it or leave it.”
Sung-Yoon Lee, assistant professor in Korean Studies at Tufts University, said it is only a matter of time before Kim demands the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea.
“But for now, Kim is creating the illusion of coming across as a reasonable guy who is willing to make some major concessions when in fact no concession has been made at all,” he said.
Before the planned summit with Trump, for which no location or date has been determined, Kim is set to meet Friday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at a Korean border village.
South Korean on Monday stopped its broadcasts of propaganda messages and pop music across the border. South Korea’s defense ministry said in a statement it hopes the move will help contribute to creating peace between the two countries.
Neither South Korea nor the United States has diplomatic relations with North Korea.
A state of war technically persists on the peninsula. Active combat in the 37-month long Korean War ended with an armistice in 1953. South Korea was not a signatory.
Moon’s government says Seoul hopes to resolve the 65-year impasse.
“The signing of a peace treaty must be pursued after an end to the war is declared,” Moon, last Thursday, told media representatives at the presidential Blue House.
Pollack, who is also editor of the The Nonproliferation Review, tells VOA that if Washington’s position remains that there cannot be sanctions relief “without complete, verifiable, irreversible dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear program,” then the South Koreans will be left with a stark choice: “Either break from the U.S. or leave both of these issues alone. They can focus instead on a peace treaty.”
your ad hereTrump: North Korea’s Kim ‘Very Honorable’
President Donald Trump says he expects to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “very soon” and praised Kim as being “very open” and “very honorable.”
“We have been told directly that they would like to have the meeting as soon as possible. We think that’s a great thing for the world,” Trump said Tuesday after talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
“We’ll see where that will all go,” Trump added. He repeated that he was willing to walk away from talks with North Korea but stressed “I think we have the chance to do something very special.”
The White House has said the ultimate goal of any negotiations between Trump and Kim denuclearization, adding the United States’ “maximum pressure” campaign on Pyongyang will continue and sanctions on the isolated country will not be lifted until concrete actions are taken towards complete and total denuclearization.
When asked what complete denuclearization means, Trump said “It means they get rid of their nukes, very simple.”
“We’re not going to take the North Koreans simply at their word,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday in response to a question from VOA News about recent declarations by Pyongyang.
“We’re not naïve in this process,” added she said. “We’ve seen some steps in the right direction, but we have a long way to go.”
Kim has announced a freeze of nuclear weapons tests and intercontinental ballistic missile launches.
Trump on Sunday appeared to infer that the North Korean leader had already agreed to give up his nuclear arsenal, despite such no such announcement from Pyongyang.
The president said on Twitter, “We haven’t given up anything & they have agreed to denuclearization (so great for World), site closure, & no more testing!”
Although South Korea has said the North has expressed interest in doing away with its nuclear weapons, Kim, however, in Saturday’s testing freeze statement, indicated North Korea’s nuclear arsenal would remain intact, calling it a “powerful treasured sword” that would firmly guarantee “our descendants can enjoy the most dignified and happiest life in the world”.
Experts skeptical
Nuclear and missile proliferation scholar Joshua Pollack of the Monterey Institute of International Studies says: “I’m not at all convinced Kim Jong Un has any interest in discussing his nuclear arsenal with anyone else. He’s made his move and we can take it or leave it.”
Sung-Yoon Lee, assistant professor in Korean Studies at Tufts University, said it is only a matter of time before Kim demands the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea.
“But for now, Kim is creating the illusion of coming across as a reasonable guy who is willing to make some major concessions when in fact no concession has been made at all,” he said.
Before the planned summit with Trump, for which no location or date has been determined, Kim is set to meet Friday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at a Korean border village.
South Korean on Monday stopped its broadcasts of propaganda messages and pop music across the border. South Korea’s defense ministry said in a statement it hopes the move will help contribute to creating peace between the two countries.
Neither South Korea nor the United States has diplomatic relations with North Korea.
A state of war technically persists on the peninsula. Active combat in the 37-month long Korean War ended with an armistice in 1953. South Korea was not a signatory.
Moon’s government says Seoul hopes to resolve the 65-year impasse.
“The signing of a peace treaty must be pursued after an end to the war is declared,” Moon, last Thursday, told media representatives at the presidential Blue House.
Pollack, who is also editor of the The Nonproliferation Review, tells VOA that if Washington’s position remains that there cannot be sanctions relief “without complete, verifiable, irreversible dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear program,” then the South Koreans will be left with a stark choice: “Either break from the U.S. or leave both of these issues alone. They can focus instead on a peace treaty.”
your ad hereSuicide Bombers Hit Security Forces in SW Pakistan
Authorities in Pakistan say three suicide bombers Tuesday separately attacked police and paramilitary forces in Quetta, killing at least six and wounding several others.
Officials report a suicide bomber blew himself up near a police van on the main road leading to the city’s airport, causing the fatalities.Rescue workers said that seven policemen were taken to the hospital in “critical condition.”
The blast occurred shortly after a pair of heavily armed suicide bombers raided a paramilitary Frontier Corps (F.C.) installation in the Mian Ghundi area just outside Quetta.
Pakistani officials say security guards engaged and gunned down one attacker while the other stormed the facility and blew himself up in the process. Rescue teams reported several casualties but authorities have not confirmed them.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the violence in and around the capital city of Baluchistan province, where separatist insurgents and militants linked to the outlawed Pakistani Taliban routinely carry out such attacks.
The largest Pakistani province borders Afghanistan and also is allegedly serving as a hideout for the Afghan Taliban fighting local and international forces on the other side of the border.
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New NASA Boss Gets ‘Hearty Congratulations’ From Space
NASA’s new boss is already getting cheers from space.
Immediately after being sworn into office Monday by Vice President Mike Pence, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine took a call from the three U.S. astronauts at the International Space Station who offered “hearty congratulations.” The Oklahoma congressman became the 13th administrator of NASA, filling a position that had been vacant for more than a year.
“America loves what you guys are doing,” Bridenstine, a former naval aviator, told the astronauts. He promised to do his best “as we reach for new heights and reveal the unknown for the benefit of humankind.”
This is the 60th anniversary year for NASA .
Bridenstine is the first elected official to lead NASA, something that had bogged down his nomination last year by President Donald Trump. The Senate approved his nomination last week by a narrow vote of 50-49. Monday’s swearing-in ceremony took place at NASA headquarters in Washington.
Pence noted that the space agency, under Bridenstine’s direction, will work to get astronauts back to the moon and then, with help from commercial space and international partners, on to Mars.
“NASA will lead the way,” said Pence, who heads the newly resurrected National Space Council.
Charles Bolden Jr., a former space shuttle commander and major general in the Marines, was NASA’s last official administrator. The space agency was led by Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot in the interim. Lightfoot retires from NASA at the end of this month.
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New NASA Boss Gets ‘Hearty Congratulations’ From Space
NASA’s new boss is already getting cheers from space.
Immediately after being sworn into office Monday by Vice President Mike Pence, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine took a call from the three U.S. astronauts at the International Space Station who offered “hearty congratulations.” The Oklahoma congressman became the 13th administrator of NASA, filling a position that had been vacant for more than a year.
“America loves what you guys are doing,” Bridenstine, a former naval aviator, told the astronauts. He promised to do his best “as we reach for new heights and reveal the unknown for the benefit of humankind.”
This is the 60th anniversary year for NASA .
Bridenstine is the first elected official to lead NASA, something that had bogged down his nomination last year by President Donald Trump. The Senate approved his nomination last week by a narrow vote of 50-49. Monday’s swearing-in ceremony took place at NASA headquarters in Washington.
Pence noted that the space agency, under Bridenstine’s direction, will work to get astronauts back to the moon and then, with help from commercial space and international partners, on to Mars.
“NASA will lead the way,” said Pence, who heads the newly resurrected National Space Council.
Charles Bolden Jr., a former space shuttle commander and major general in the Marines, was NASA’s last official administrator. The space agency was led by Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot in the interim. Lightfoot retires from NASA at the end of this month.
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Zimbabwe Nurses Return to Work After Strike
Around 16,000 nurses in Zimbabwe resumed work Monday, bringing to an end one week of strikes that affected health services in the country.
Zimbabwe’s health ministry said the situation had “returned to normal” in all hospitals.
“The majority of nurses dismissed have applied for re-engagement, and the government has permitted them to resume duty, pending final approval from the employer,” the health ministry public relations office in Harare said Monday.
Strike lasts week
The nurses went on strike a week ago to press demands for improved allowances and an irregular salary grading system, its union said.
Many of Zimbabwe’s nurses operate in poorly equipped state-run institutions, and patients are expected to supply basics such as drugs and equipment.
Since taking charge of Zimbabwe late last year, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has vowed to improve the beleaguered economy and seek foreign investment to improve public services.
Nurses offer free treatment
The nurses were fired last week by Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who said they refused to go back to work after $17 million was released to improve their pay.
Hundreds of the nurses offered free treatment to the public in the country’s parliament to protest their dismissal Friday.
Zimbabwe’s government said at the time that the decision would not be reversed and ordered heads of hospitals to recruit new nurses to replace those who were sacked.
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Zimbabwe Nurses Return to Work After Strike
Around 16,000 nurses in Zimbabwe resumed work Monday, bringing to an end one week of strikes that affected health services in the country.
Zimbabwe’s health ministry said the situation had “returned to normal” in all hospitals.
“The majority of nurses dismissed have applied for re-engagement, and the government has permitted them to resume duty, pending final approval from the employer,” the health ministry public relations office in Harare said Monday.
Strike lasts week
The nurses went on strike a week ago to press demands for improved allowances and an irregular salary grading system, its union said.
Many of Zimbabwe’s nurses operate in poorly equipped state-run institutions, and patients are expected to supply basics such as drugs and equipment.
Since taking charge of Zimbabwe late last year, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has vowed to improve the beleaguered economy and seek foreign investment to improve public services.
Nurses offer free treatment
The nurses were fired last week by Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, who said they refused to go back to work after $17 million was released to improve their pay.
Hundreds of the nurses offered free treatment to the public in the country’s parliament to protest their dismissal Friday.
Zimbabwe’s government said at the time that the decision would not be reversed and ordered heads of hospitals to recruit new nurses to replace those who were sacked.
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Pence Picks Kellogg to Serve as National Security Adviser
Vice President Mike Pence has chosen retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, a top official with the National Security Council, to serve as his national security adviser.
Pence selected Kellogg, a national security aide to President Donald Trump, to fill the role after his top choice, Jon Lerner, withdrew his name from consideration.
Lerner, an adviser to U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, pulled out of a proposed dual role after Trump learned of his planned hiring. Lerner is a longtime Republican strategist and pollster who previously worked with the Club for Growth, which aired ads critical of Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Pence said in a statement that Kellogg “brings a wealth of experience in national security and foreign policy matters to this role and has already been an integral part of the President’s national security team.”
Kellogg has served as chief of staff at the National Security Council and is the latest NSC official to depart after the arrival of Trump national security adviser John Bolton. Also gone are spokesman Michael Anton, homeland security adviser Tom Bossert, and deputy national security advisers Ricky Waddell and Nadia Schadlow.
Kellogg served as acting national security adviser after Michael Flynn resigned in February 2017 as Trump’s first national security adviser. Flynn’s successor, H.R. McMaster, was recently replaced by Bolton.
Kellogg, who served in the U.S. Army for more than three decades, previously served as commander of the 82nd Airborne Division and as a top aide to Paul Bremer, who led the Coalition Provisional Authority during the reconstruction of Iraq.
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Pence Picks Kellogg to Serve as National Security Adviser
Vice President Mike Pence has chosen retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, a top official with the National Security Council, to serve as his national security adviser.
Pence selected Kellogg, a national security aide to President Donald Trump, to fill the role after his top choice, Jon Lerner, withdrew his name from consideration.
Lerner, an adviser to U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, pulled out of a proposed dual role after Trump learned of his planned hiring. Lerner is a longtime Republican strategist and pollster who previously worked with the Club for Growth, which aired ads critical of Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Pence said in a statement that Kellogg “brings a wealth of experience in national security and foreign policy matters to this role and has already been an integral part of the President’s national security team.”
Kellogg has served as chief of staff at the National Security Council and is the latest NSC official to depart after the arrival of Trump national security adviser John Bolton. Also gone are spokesman Michael Anton, homeland security adviser Tom Bossert, and deputy national security advisers Ricky Waddell and Nadia Schadlow.
Kellogg served as acting national security adviser after Michael Flynn resigned in February 2017 as Trump’s first national security adviser. Flynn’s successor, H.R. McMaster, was recently replaced by Bolton.
Kellogg, who served in the U.S. Army for more than three decades, previously served as commander of the 82nd Airborne Division and as a top aide to Paul Bremer, who led the Coalition Provisional Authority during the reconstruction of Iraq.
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Former US President George H.W. Bush Admitted to Hospital
Former President George H. W. Bush, 93, has been admitted to the hospital for a blood infection, a spokesman for the family said Monday evening.
Bush was admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital Sunday morning. The former president’s hospitalization follows so closely on the death of his wife Barbara last Tuesday. The family had been worried about how he would deal with her death and such an emotional week, according to CNN.
He contracted an infection that spread to his blood, a statement read. He was responding to treatments and appeared to be recovering.
Bush, who served one term as president from 1989 to 1993, has been in and out of the hospital over the last couple of years.
In April 2017, he was released from a Houston hospital after treatment for pneumonia and chronic bronchitis.
A few months before that, he was hospitalized at Houston Methodist for 16 days for pneumonia. He was previously hospitalized in Maine in 2015, after he fell and broke a bone in his neck. In December 2014, he was hospitalized for about a week in Houston for shortness of breath.
The family’s spokesman said he would issue additional updates “as events warrant.”
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Former US President George H.W. Bush Admitted to Hospital
Former President George H. W. Bush, 93, has been admitted to the hospital for a blood infection, a spokesman for the family said Monday evening.
Bush was admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital Sunday morning. The former president’s hospitalization follows so closely on the death of his wife Barbara last Tuesday. The family had been worried about how he would deal with her death and such an emotional week, according to CNN.
He contracted an infection that spread to his blood, a statement read. He was responding to treatments and appeared to be recovering.
Bush, who served one term as president from 1989 to 1993, has been in and out of the hospital over the last couple of years.
In April 2017, he was released from a Houston hospital after treatment for pneumonia and chronic bronchitis.
A few months before that, he was hospitalized at Houston Methodist for 16 days for pneumonia. He was previously hospitalized in Maine in 2015, after he fell and broke a bone in his neck. In December 2014, he was hospitalized for about a week in Houston for shortness of breath.
The family’s spokesman said he would issue additional updates “as events warrant.”
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Threats Posed by North Korea, Iran Dominate NPT Conference
Nations attending a U.N. conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty warn the threat of nuclear weapons use is growing and efforts toward the elimination of such arsenals must be re-doubled.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which came into force nearly 50 years ago, has successfully prevented the widespread development of these weapons of mass destruction. But many nations worry global insecurity is eroding international commitments to disarmament.
At the opening session of the NPT conference, the United States singled out North Korea and Iran as two of the greatest threats facing the non-proliferation regime. The assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, Christopher Ford, noted that North Korea withdrew from the NPT after being caught violating the agreement’s terms. He said that while the North continued to violate legally-binding U.N. Security Council resolutions, the nonproliferation regime faced a real, but longer-term challenge from Iran.
“A country that for years unlawfully and secretly sought to develop nuclear weapons, suspended its weaponization work only when confronted by potentially dire consequences, continued to enrich uranium in violation of U.N. Security Council requirements, and retains the ability to position itself, several years hence, dangerously close to rapid weaponization,” Ford said.
The Trump administration will decide by May 12 whether it will continue to participate in the Iranian Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a deal that was negotiated by the five nuclear powers and the European Union.
The special European envoy for disarmament and non-proliferation, Jacek Bylica, spoke on behalf of the European Union, which he says remains committed to the Iranian deal and expects all parties to implement it in full.
“It is in our common interest to preserve a deal that strengthens the global non-proliferation regime, contributes positively to reach international peace and security and provides the international community with necessary assurances on the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program,” Bylica said.
The EU envoy received strong support from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has been monitoring Iran’s nuclear program since 2016. It said Iran was subject to the world’s most robust nuclear verification regime and was in compliance with its commitments under the JCPA.
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Threats Posed by North Korea, Iran Dominate NPT Conference
Nations attending a U.N. conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty warn the threat of nuclear weapons use is growing and efforts toward the elimination of such arsenals must be re-doubled.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which came into force nearly 50 years ago, has successfully prevented the widespread development of these weapons of mass destruction. But many nations worry global insecurity is eroding international commitments to disarmament.
At the opening session of the NPT conference, the United States singled out North Korea and Iran as two of the greatest threats facing the non-proliferation regime. The assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, Christopher Ford, noted that North Korea withdrew from the NPT after being caught violating the agreement’s terms. He said that while the North continued to violate legally-binding U.N. Security Council resolutions, the nonproliferation regime faced a real, but longer-term challenge from Iran.
“A country that for years unlawfully and secretly sought to develop nuclear weapons, suspended its weaponization work only when confronted by potentially dire consequences, continued to enrich uranium in violation of U.N. Security Council requirements, and retains the ability to position itself, several years hence, dangerously close to rapid weaponization,” Ford said.
The Trump administration will decide by May 12 whether it will continue to participate in the Iranian Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a deal that was negotiated by the five nuclear powers and the European Union.
The special European envoy for disarmament and non-proliferation, Jacek Bylica, spoke on behalf of the European Union, which he says remains committed to the Iranian deal and expects all parties to implement it in full.
“It is in our common interest to preserve a deal that strengthens the global non-proliferation regime, contributes positively to reach international peace and security and provides the international community with necessary assurances on the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program,” Bylica said.
The EU envoy received strong support from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has been monitoring Iran’s nuclear program since 2016. It said Iran was subject to the world’s most robust nuclear verification regime and was in compliance with its commitments under the JCPA.
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Southern Africa Group to Meet About DRC Stability
When the Southern Africa Development Conference meets Tuesday to discuss the Democratic Republic of Congo’s efforts to hold elections and stabilize the country, the DRC’s leader might not attend.
A government official told VOA that President Joseph Kabila instead would send Prime Minister Bruno Tshibala to the meeting in Luanda, Angola’s capital. But Kabila’s office has made no announcement.
Martin Fayulu, a member of the main DRC opposition coalition known as the Rassemblement, told VOA that the conference leadership should tell Kabila to step down so the country can have a peaceful election.
“What he has demonstrated is he doesn’t want to organize the elections,” Fayulu said.
Fayulu discounted the government’s statements that it’s preparing for elections, now scheduled for Dec. 23. He said there’s evidence that government officials have interfered with the work of the Independent National Election Commission, known as CENI.
Rassamblement wants to see a neutral group, not the government, coordinate elections so its members can be confident that voting will be a legitimate exercise, Fayulu said.
“We want a credible transference election, and Mr. Kabilia is not ready to organize those elections,” he said.
SADC last week opened an office in Kinshasa to support the country as it prepares for the election amid rising violence.
Kabila’s term in office was to have ended in December 2016, but the government repeatedly has postponed elections. Part of the delay, according to the government, has been the sheer logistics of arranging an election in the vast, impoverished Central African nation of 83 million.
Kabila has been in office 17 years and has grown increasingly unpopular. His refusal to hold elections in 2016 has prompted numerous protests. The United Nations Security Council, in a December report, noted that “political tensions have been exacerbated by the DRC government’s curbing of political freedoms of the opposition and curtailing the freedom of the press.” It cited another report tallying at least 53 anti-government protesters were killed during demonstrations.
In a rare move, Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi last week urged Kabila not to seek another term. Masisi took office earlier this month in one of Africa’s most stable democracies.
Masisi said in an interview with London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies that he hoped to see a commitment from Kabila to leave office at year’s end.
Botswana political journalist Kealeboga Dihutso, a Botswana broadcaster in the capital, Gaborone, told VOA that some there are unhappy that Masisi spoke out.
“It’s a generally held view (that Kabila should not run), though we don’t really enjoy it when our president or one of our leaders has commentary on other counties,” Dihutso said.
However, he said, people elsewhere in Africa often like it when Botswana’s leadership speaks out.
“I think internationally, it improves our status, our stature in Africa, because we generally get appreciated by a lot of African countries” for Botswana’s long history of peaceful, democratic political transitions.
Kate Pound Dawson contributed to this report.
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Southern Africa Group to Meet About DRC Stability
When the Southern Africa Development Conference meets Tuesday to discuss the Democratic Republic of Congo’s efforts to hold elections and stabilize the country, the DRC’s leader might not attend.
A government official told VOA that President Joseph Kabila instead would send Prime Minister Bruno Tshibala to the meeting in Luanda, Angola’s capital. But Kabila’s office has made no announcement.
Martin Fayulu, a member of the main DRC opposition coalition known as the Rassemblement, told VOA that the conference leadership should tell Kabila to step down so the country can have a peaceful election.
“What he has demonstrated is he doesn’t want to organize the elections,” Fayulu said.
Fayulu discounted the government’s statements that it’s preparing for elections, now scheduled for Dec. 23. He said there’s evidence that government officials have interfered with the work of the Independent National Election Commission, known as CENI.
Rassamblement wants to see a neutral group, not the government, coordinate elections so its members can be confident that voting will be a legitimate exercise, Fayulu said.
“We want a credible transference election, and Mr. Kabilia is not ready to organize those elections,” he said.
SADC last week opened an office in Kinshasa to support the country as it prepares for the election amid rising violence.
Kabila’s term in office was to have ended in December 2016, but the government repeatedly has postponed elections. Part of the delay, according to the government, has been the sheer logistics of arranging an election in the vast, impoverished Central African nation of 83 million.
Kabila has been in office 17 years and has grown increasingly unpopular. His refusal to hold elections in 2016 has prompted numerous protests. The United Nations Security Council, in a December report, noted that “political tensions have been exacerbated by the DRC government’s curbing of political freedoms of the opposition and curtailing the freedom of the press.” It cited another report tallying at least 53 anti-government protesters were killed during demonstrations.
In a rare move, Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi last week urged Kabila not to seek another term. Masisi took office earlier this month in one of Africa’s most stable democracies.
Masisi said in an interview with London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies that he hoped to see a commitment from Kabila to leave office at year’s end.
Botswana political journalist Kealeboga Dihutso, a Botswana broadcaster in the capital, Gaborone, told VOA that some there are unhappy that Masisi spoke out.
“It’s a generally held view (that Kabila should not run), though we don’t really enjoy it when our president or one of our leaders has commentary on other counties,” Dihutso said.
However, he said, people elsewhere in Africa often like it when Botswana’s leadership speaks out.
“I think internationally, it improves our status, our stature in Africa, because we generally get appreciated by a lot of African countries” for Botswana’s long history of peaceful, democratic political transitions.
Kate Pound Dawson contributed to this report.
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