Congos Bemba gets definite ban from December polls
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but fears persist of further violence with kabilas opponents accusing him of trying to rig the vote to ensure ramazanis victory1 democratic republic of congos top court has definitively excluded opposition leader jean-pierre bemba from decembers presidential election because of a witness tampering conviction at the international criminal court1 his defeat to kabila in the 2006 election touched off deadly clashes in the capital kinshasa between his supporters and state troops. he then spent a decade in prison in the hague before his war crimes convictions for murders and rapes committed by his militia in central african republic were quashed in may1 in a judgment broadcast on national television on monday the constitutional court said the election commission had rightly invalidated bembas candidacy last month finding that witness tampering is a form of corruption as stipulated in the electoral law1 the dec. 23 election is due to usher in congos first democratic transition of power after kabila agreed last month to respect constitutional term limits and step aside in favour of close loyalist emmanuel ramazani shadarys candidacy1 that announcement has calmed tensions that exploded into deadly street protests when kabila refused to step aside at the end of his constitutional mandate in december 20161 bemba a popular former vice president was tipped as one of the leading candidates to replace outgoing president joseph kabila. his exclusion from the race could spark a violent reaction by his supporters1 congo has fallen very low the secretary-general of bembas mlc party wrote on twitter after the judgment1 kabilas camp denies that it is improperly trying to influence the election1 besides bemba opposition leader moise katumbi was barred from re-entering congo last month to register his candidacy after two years in exile1 katumbi placed joint first in a rare public opinion poll in july with 19 percent of the vote. another opposition leader felix tshisekedi also received 19 percent while bemba placed third with 17 percent1 ramazani did not receive enough votes to be included in the results1 the constitutional court also on monday upheld the invalidation of former prime minister adolphe muzitos candidacy but reinstated another former prime minister samy badibanga as a candidate1