This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Opposition parties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have picked a popular businessman and veteran parliamentarian to be a unity candidate for the presidential election in December.

Martin Fayulu, who is widely respected within the DRC and overseas, will lead a coalition against the little-known Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, a former interior minister and the ruling coalition’s candidate.

The decision, which came after marathon talks in Geneva, will be a relief to many onlookers fearful that the country’s numerous opposition parties would fail to overcome rivalry and feuds to field a single candidate.

The move means the poll, scheduled for 23 December, is likely to be a real contest between Shadary and the opposition.

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Joseph Kabila, who took power in 2001, is banned by the constitution from running for a third term. His candidacy was opposed by the US and the EU, as well as significant regional players.

Shadary is a Kabila loyalist without a following of his own. He is under EU sanctions for his involvement in alleged human rights abuses.

The polls remain highly controversial. There is deep concern about the introduction of a new electronic voting machine and two of the biggest names among the opposition have been unable to stand.

Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former warlord and vice-president who returned to the DRC last week after being acquitted of war crimes by the international criminal court, has been ruled out on legal grounds, while Moïse Katumbi, a wealthy businessman and former governor of the province of Katanga, has been stopped from returning home to file his bid. The multimillionaire faces court cases in DRC on charges that he says are trumped up. He has been in self-imposed exile in Europe for more than two years.

Both were present in Geneva for the talks.

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An opinion poll in July, before Kabila came out to back Shadary, showed opposition leaders were favoured by about 70% of voters, but the ruling party enjoys significant financial and institutional advantages.

Kabila took over from his father, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, who was assassinated by a bodyguard in 2001. He has remained in power despite his second term ending in 2016, under a constitutional clause that enables a president to stay in office until a successor is elected.

Many provinces are in the grip of armed conflict and millions have had to flee from their homes.

Officials in the DRC claim only 230,000 people have been displaced, which is a fraction of the UN’s estimate of 4.5 million.

The country, which has significant natural resources, has never known a peaceful transition of power since it gained independence from Belgium in 1960, and some experts fear the December elections will trigger a bloody conflict.