Opposition politicians select their representatives

Meanwhile, the main opposition political parties in the DRC at the weekend reached an agreement on a list of 14 delegates to represent them at the preparatory committee meeting of the inter-Congolese dialogue, a statement from the dialogue’s facilitator, Ketumile Masire said on Monday. The representatives will participate in a preparatory meeting to be held in Gaborone, Botswana, from 20-24 August. The meeting will be a technical gathering at which the representatives will determine the date, venue, agenda and rules of procedure for the inter-Congolese dialogue among other issues, the statement said. It said that the political opposition would designate its representatives to the dialogue proper at a later date. The inter-Congolese dialogue was supposed to have been held nearly two years ago, according to the calendar of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement signed in July 1999. A preparatory meeting was first convened at Cotonou in June last year, but the government refused to participate and banned the unarmed opposition in Kinshasa from attending. At that time only seven opposition parties were invited, including the best known, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress led by Etienne Tshisekedi. The list that came out yesterday contains those parties’ representatives, known in Kinshasa as the Cotonou seven, plus another seven from the less known parties that are less opposed to the regime. The final list appears to be a compromise between the regime and facilitator, as well as a compromise among the oppositionists themselves, raising hopes that the pre-dialogue is about to go ahead at last. The government and the rebel Rassamblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD) have yet to submit their lists of delegates.