Democracy deferred: DR Congo's troubled past

The presidential election originally scheduled for Sunday will now take place on 30 December.

This is the latest in a series of delays that have frustrated opposition supporters and deepened their suspicion that President Joseph Kabila intends to cling on to power.

The president has been in office since 2001. He was meant to have stepped down in 2016 under a constitutional prohibition from seeking an additional term.

However, the election to choose his successor has been continually postponed, amid unrest and reported logistical difficulties.

DR Congo has not had an orderly change of government since it gained independence from Belgium in 1960.