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2015-01-25 Africa Subsaharan
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Congo Senate bows to protests, drops reforms
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[Iran Press TV] The upper house of the parliament, Senate, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo , which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material...
has scrapped a proposed change to a controversial election law that would allow President Joseph Kabila to extend his stay in power.
The senators on Friday agreed to modify the proposed law, which had already been passed by the lower house -- the National Assembly -- in its original form.
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"We have listened to the street. That is why the vote today is a historic vote," media outlets quoted Senate President Leon Kengo Wa Dondo as saying.
Sources say a parliamentary committee will now seek to reconcile the two chambers' bills before a possible final vote.
This comes as opposition parties have been holding protests against the new electoral bill, which aims to delay presidential and parliamentary polls beyond 2016.
On Monday, violent festivities left at least four people dead and ten others maimed in the capital Kinshasa.
A coalition of opposition parties called on protesters to occupy the parliament building to stop passing any laws affecting the election.
They are demanding that the 43-year-old president step down.
Kabila came to power after the liquidation of his father Laurent-Desire Kabila in 2001. Five years later, Kabila won the country's first free election since its independence from Belgium back in 1960.
The leader began his second and last five-year constitutional term following a disputed vote in 2011.
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Posted by Fred 2015-01-25 00:00||
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Posted by Shipman 2015-01-25 06:32||
2015-01-25 06:32||
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00:40 Frank G
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