KINSHASA, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- The President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila, on Friday called on the politicians to make a choice between holding elections he regards as costly or spending the money on the development of the country.
The president said in Kinshasa during a press briefing that the cost of elections, at around 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, is more expensive than that required for the development of the country.
"The election budget is 1.2 billion dollars, and I say it quite often, the elections in this country are starting to cost us a lot more than even the development of the country. And at some point we will have to make a choice, will it be necessary to be cited around the world as the most democratic country, or is the development that counts?" he said.
"Today, we are nearing the end of enlistment operations in Kasai. We are more or less 46 million voters enlisted. The elections in this country is a vast operation," said Joseph Kabila.
At the press conference, the president called on Congolese people to make courageous decisions so that they do not have to spend so much money just to hold elections.
"We must take the most courageous options and decisions not to fall or fall back into the situation with a budget of 1.2 billion for elections, while we have a total budget of 6 or 7 billions," added the Congolese president.
The west African country has not managed to organize the elections scheduled since the end of 2016, following technical and financial problems.
The political majority of the opposition accuses Kabila of blocking the electoral process in the country.
Protests demanding the holding of elections have resulted in the death of several people across the country since the beginning of the year.
