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KABILA GAINS SUPPORT
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A veteran Congolese politician who placed third in historic July 30 elections instructed his supporters today to back Joseph Kabila, the DRC president, in a decisive presidential run-off next month.
Antoine Gizenga, who served briefly as head of state in the 1960s, said his PALU party would back Kabila, in the October 29 run-off against Jean-Pierre Bemba, the vice-president and former rebel chief.
Kabila's camp said this week it had made deals to secure a majority in the new parliament, which officially sits for the first time tomorrow, reinforcing expectations of a Kabila victory. |
In the huge country's first free, open elections for more than 40 years, Kabila won 44.81% of first round votes, followed by Bemba with 20.03% and Gizenga with 13.06%. "PALU (Unified Lumumbist Party) will support the candidacy of Mr Joseph Kabila in the second round of the presidential election. It will give voting instructions to this effect to its supporters," Gizenga, now in his 80s, said in a statement.
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