Congo's president warns next elections can't take place unless the conflict in the east is resolved

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KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congo's president warned on Wednesday that the African nation will not be able to organize and hold elections after his term ends in two years unless the conflict that has gripped the country's east is resolved and stability returns.

The remarks by Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi, whose term expires in December 2028, came during a televised address to the nation in which he discussed a range of topics, including deportations of migrants from the United States under a deal with the Trump administration.

Congo’s decades-long conflict escalated in January 2025, when the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels advanced and seized the strategic city of Goma, followed by the town of Bukavu, which they took in February as they seek to expand their presence. The fighting has killed some 3,000 people and worsened what was already one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with around 7 million people displaced.

A U.S.-mediated peace agreement to end the fighting and other efforts have stumbled.

“If we cannot end this war, unfortunately we will not be able to organize elections in 2028,” said Tshisekedi.

"But it will not be because I refused to organize them, the resources are there we can do it, but we cannot organize them without North Kivu and South Kivu,” he added, referring to two eastern provinces.

Even before this year's escalation, eastern Congo had been battered by decades of unrest, with government forces fighting more than 100 armed groups — M23 being the most prominent — often over access to its mineral riches.

Tshisekedi, who is on his second term now, a limit under the constitution, indicated he could pursue a third term.

“I have not sought a third term, but I tell you: If the people want me to have a third term, I will accept," he said, adding that a referendum on the constitution would have to take place first to approve an amendment allowing a president to seek more than two terms.

Critics swiftly denounced Tshisekedi's address. Congolese politician André Claudel Lubaya said that Tshisekedi was citing a supposed will of the people “to justify a fraudulent intention.”

Seth Kikuni, a two-time presidential candidate, said on X that if Tshisekedi “threatens to seize power” in 2028, there would be only one option left for the opposition — "to cross the Rubicon and throw the dice.”