Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) – Opposition parties in Congo established a platform, called “the citizen’s movement for the respect of rule of law”, with which they will fight against any amendment to the 2002 constitution which will enable President Denis Sassou Nguesso to stand as candidate for a third-term in 2016.
A statement from the movement said “the citizen’s movement for the respect of rule of law is a peaceful and non-violent movement.”
It called on Congolese people to stand up against ongoing “constitutional coup”.
The violation of constitutions across the world has often resulted in fraternal wars, said the movement, made up of the Congolese Social Democrat Party (Psdc) and the Patriotic Union for National Change (Uprn).
The parties are led by the former Congolese minister of Trade (1991-1992), Clément Miérassa, and the minister of Finance, Mathias Dzon (1997-2002), respectively.
The two men were defeated candidates in the 2009 presidential poll won by president Nguesso.
The constitution in force since 2002 prevents President Nguesso, 71, who is ending his second and last term as president, from standing as candidate for the presidential poll in 2016.
The opposition is suspecting that the government will “change or modify” the constitution which limits the number of presidential terms to two and sets the maximum age at 70 years.
