Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on (a) current levels of political stability and (b) the handling of the recent presidential election.

The Foreign Secretary and I met with the foreign minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) at the Illegal Wildlife Trade conference in London last October. He encouraged the Congolese government to engage constructively with the then upcoming elections. Last month I underlined with the three main presidential candidates the need to engage fully with the electoral process and to condemn any electoral violence or incitement of it. We continue to press for adherence to these principles locally and through multilateral fora such as the UN and EU.

The UK congratulates the Congolese people for exercising their democratic rights by going to the polls on 30 December 2018. Thankfully, the polling period was more stable than many had feared it might be and instances of electoral violence were minimal. Despite the electoral commission (CENI) delaying the announcement of the election results, much of the country remains calm, including the capital, Kinshasa. Alongside our international partners, the UK has lobbied the government of the DRC to respect the election results and for CENI to compile and announcement the results without further unnecessary delay.