Said Djinnit, the Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region, concluded today a four-day visit to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The objective of the visit was to consult with a wide range of national stakeholders on the electoral process and related political issues and seek their views on how best to support the ongoing mediation efforts led by the Conference Episcopale Nationale du Congo (CENCO).

The efforts of the CENCO are aimed at broadening the consensus on, and inclusivity of the electoral and political process building on the 18 October Global Political Agreement. To this end, Mr. Djinnit held fruitful meetings with the Acting Secretary-General of CENCO, the representatives of the Presidential Majority, the opposition coalition of political parties known as the Rassemblement, as well as several individual political leaders. Special Envoy Djinnit also paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister-designate Samy Badibanga.

In his meetings with the various interlocutors, Mr. Djinnit expressed support for the ongoing mediation efforts by CENCO. “The Democratic Republic of the Congo is at an important turning point in its political history. I call on all parties to demonstrate flexibility and readiness for compromise to create propitious conditions for peaceful and credible elections”, he said. Mr. Djinnit also seized the opportunity to encourage the Government and the leaders of the Rassemblement to exercise restraint and take additional confidence-building measures to help create the enabling environment for successful and peaceful negotiations.

In his meetings in Kinshasa, the Special Envoy was accompanied by senior officials from the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) representing Maman Sidikou, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the DRC.

While in the region, the Special Envoy also visited Brazzaville on 24 November where he met with President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo. They discussed the preparation of the next Summit meeting of the Regional Oversight Mechanism of the Framework for Peace, Security and Cooperation. On that occasion, it was agreed that the Summit will be held in the Republic of Congo on 20 October 2017.

President Sassou Nguesso and Special Envoy Djinnit also exchanged views on the implementation of the decisions of the last meeting of the Regional Oversight Mechanism held in Luanda on 26 October, including the importance of supporting the mediation efforts led by CENCO aimed at promoting a common ground between the stakeholders in the DRC towards peaceful and credible elections and those by the East African Community to address the situation in Burundi.