Democratic Republic of the Congo general election, 2018

The first round of the 2018 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election took place on 7 February 2018, and the run off occurred on 1 March. It occurred amidst tensions and ongoing protests against President Joseph Kabila, who was supposed to step down in November 2016, when the election was originally scheduled, and was not permitted to seek another term under the Constitution of the DRC. However, he refused to do so and after mass protests in Kinshasa that resulted in hundreds of deaths, he was forced to make a deal with the Congolese opposition by international pressure. In the end they agreed to hold an election and let Kabila run for a third term.

As part of the agreement, signed in August 2017, election monitors from the United Nations, as well as from the US and several European countries, were present. They reported no major irregularities and that despite some trouble the election was mostly fair and valid. Businessman Emmanuel Weyi was the main opposition candidate from the UDPS party, since the death of veteran liberal and party leader Étienne Tshisekedi in February of the previous year. Unlike in past elections, campaigning began early on and all candidates traveled throughout the DRC to raise support. Moïse Katumbi, former governor of Katanga Province and most popular politician in the country, refused requests to stand as a candidate and instead endorsed Weyi.

None of the candidates collected more than half of the vote in the first round, with Kabila having his worst performance out of the three elections he had taken part in (20.4%), coming in second after Weyi (25.3%). The second round saw Weyi defeat the incumbent president with 57.4% of the vote, ending the 17-year presidency of Kabila, who has led the country since January 2001.

Background
The DR Congo had seen a constitutional crisis as President Joseph Kabila refused to step down in November 2016, when his mandate ended and a general election was supposed to be held. Hundreds had been killed in riots starting in late 2016 and going on through early 2017, and an agreement made with the opposition back in December 2016 was ignored. He was forced to meet with opposition leaders and Congolese Catholic Church officials again by pressure from the EU and US. Finally in August of that year, a new political action plan was made after weeks of negotiating, stating that he would step down in early 2018 for an election, but he will be allowed to run for a third term despite the Constitution of the DRC making him ineligible. The deal was reluctantly accepted by the opposition and the Constitutional Court.

The US and EU send more than ten thousand monitors to the country ahead of the election and put pressure on Kabila to allow political campaigning to take place by different candidates without any harassment from the security forces. Due to the poor state of the communications and transportation networks in the DRC, as well as the presence of many armed groups waging an insurgency, carrying out a transparent election was regarded as difficult at best, especially in the more remote regions of the country. Nonetheless, both the central elections commission of the of Congo and various foreign observers made a great effort to ensure that the voting could proceed as smoothly as possible.

Campaigning
A difference between past elections and the 2018 one was that candidates actually toured the country and opened campaign offices, attending rallies and other events. Joseph Kabila, as the incumbent, largely remained in the capital, but his party campaigned on his behalf in other provinces. The lack of reliable communications and transportation infrastructure made the process difficult, but several candidates took part in these activities. Among them were Emmanuel Weyi, Oscar Kashala, Nzanga Mobutu, and a few others. The former two opened a number of campaign offices throughout the country, with Weyi and Kashala having an office in each of the Congo's 26 provinces. Political agitation began in late 2017 and continued until the first round of voting in February 2018.

Aftermath

 * Main article: Presidency of Emmanuel Weyi

Following the runoff on March 1, Joseph Kabila—who had been in power since January 2001—conceded the election the following day when the results became known, much to the surprise of both the opposition and foreign observers. The winner, Emmanuel Weyi, was sworn in as President of the Republic on March 10, 2018. Immediately he set about implementing new internal reforms reforms. Bowing to popular pressure, former Governor of Katanga Province, Moïse Katumbi (who had endorsed the winning candidate during the election), accepted President Weyi's formal request to form a government and became Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on March 24.

Countries

 * Flag of Belgium (civil).png Belgium: A message from the Prime Minister's office stated that Belgium praised Joseph Kabila for relinquishing power to Emmanuel Weyi and will assist the DRC with further democratization.
 * Flag of the Central African Republic.svg Central African Republic: In a statement, President Faustin Archange-Touadéra expressed his support for Emmanuel Weyi and congratulated him on his victory. He also stated that he intends to increase relations between the DRC and CAR, especially military cooperation against the armed groups fighting in the border region between the two countries. He also remarked that he was glad to see that "both of our countries are successfully on the road to democratic reform."
 * Flag of The Peoples Republic of China.svg China: A press statement from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs congratulated Emmanuel Weyi and went on to say that China hopes that with this development the two countries can continue to increase bilateral relations. It also stated that China will continue to develop economic relations with the DRC in particular.
 * Flag of the Republic of the Congo.svg Republic of the Congo: President Denis Sassou Nguesso congratulated the President-Elect with the victory, stating that the removal of Kabila will open the path for Congo-Brazzaville to improve its relations with Kinshasa.
 * Flag of France.svg France: French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Emmanuel Weyi over the phone after the election and congratulated him on his victory, also stating that France will continue to support the efforts to stabilize Congo and achieve government reform, in addition to providing peacekeepers for MONUSCO. This made France the first country to recognize the election results.
 * Flag of Germany.svg Germany: According to Foreign Office spokesperson Sebastian Fischer, Germany welcomes the success of the first successful election in the DRC since 2011, and that Joseph Kabila actually conceded the election to Emmanuel Weyi. He reiterated that the German Government will continue to provide support to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in humanitarian aid and that German Federal Armed Forces will contribute to the peacekeeping mission in the eastern DRC.
 * Flag of Russia.svg Russia: The Presidential Envoy for Africa and the Middle East, Mikhail Bogdanov, stated that the Russian government congratulates Emmanuel Weyi on his victory and hopes that relations between the DRC and Russia will further develop during his administration.
 * Flag of Rwanda.svg Rwanda: A foreign ministry spokesperson congratulated President-Elect Weyi on his victory in the election. President Paul Kagame commented on the matter, stating that Rwanda would make efforts to come to an agreement with the DRC's new government to end the conflict in eastern Congo. He went on to say that the removal of Kabila was a major step in normalizing DRC–Rwanda relations.
 * Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom: In a press release, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson stated that the British Government congratulated Emmanuel Weyi on his success and hopes for further democratic reform in the country.
 * Flag of the United States.svg United States: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had condemned the actions of President Joseph Kabila and urged him to step down as per his constitutional mandate. After the election, he congratulated the Congolese people on the completion of their first truly democratic election in years and stated that the United States looks forward to working with the new government of DR Congo for the mutual benefit of both countries.

Supranational organizations

 * African Union flag.svg African Union: Assembly Chair Alpha Conde stated that he was pleased with the election and that it is a step on the road to making the country into a truly democratic state, as well as seeing the election as an example for other countries on the continent to emulate.
 * Flag of Europe.svg European Union: A spokesperson of EU foreign policy commissioner Federica Mogherini stated that the EU was pleased with the overall conduct of the election despite the difficulties and some irregularities, and hoped that this could begin the process of stabilizing the DRC.
 * Flag of the United Nations.svg United Nations: A statement from the UN Secretary-General's office announced the organization's support for Emmanuel Weyi and praised the successful conduct of the election, also stating the UN will continue to provide assistance to the country.