Senator Jean-Pierre Bemba has been nominated as the presidential candidate for the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC). The resolution was taken on Friday in Kinshasa at the closing of the third congress of the opposition party.

The participants also decided to renew Jean-Pierre Bemba as the head of the Party for a term of 5 years.

“In accordance to the prerogatives recognized to us by our constitution, we have decided unanimously to renew Senator Bemba as the national president of the MLC for a term of five years and invest him as our candidate for presidential election of December 23, 2018,” stated the congress spokesperson Jean Jacques Mamba.

He added that the MLC political committee also endorsed 715 candidates for the provincial elections and 500 as national elections.

Started on Thursday, the MLC congress was held without its president, Jean-Pierre Bemba, who remains in Brussels after being acquitted by the International Criminal Court of charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The secretary-general of the MLC, Eve Bazaiba, said that holding the third congress of the members of the MLC has allowed the party to set clear the lines that should guide the DRC as a modern and competitive state in the world.

“Our country, the DRC, has lost all credibility both diplomatic level and in terms of business. The DRC no longer has any footholds to the point of losing control of its natural resources. We note that the government has no policy in place for the management of the Congo Basin,” said Eve Bazaiba.