KINSHASA, Congo — Congo’s former Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba, a top opposition figure, said Saturday he will appeal after the electoral commission rejected him as a presidential candidate in December’s long-delayed election because of a pending case at the International Criminal Court. He returned to Congo early this month after more than a decade away and registered as a candidate the next day. Congo’s electoral commission, however, pointed out that another case is pending in which Bemba was convicted of interfering with witnesses, calling that synonymous with corruption. Felix Tshisekedi, the candidate for Congo’s largest opposition party, remains eligible to run. The 47-year-old Kabila became president in 2001 after the assassination of his father, former President Laurent Kabila, and by law cannot run again after his mandate ended in December 2016.

Source: Washington Post August 25, 2018 06:25 UTC