Congolese Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo resigned on Monday as part of the national dialogue framework agreement which stipulates that an opposition leader takes the position of Prime Minister.

The agreement was signed in October by the ruling party and some opposition parties endorsing the 2018 presidential election date proposed by the electoral commission and for President Joseph Kabila to remain in office till then.

“I tender my resignation as the Prime Minister and that of members of my government to meet the spirit and letter of the agreement,” Augustin Matata Ponyo said at the end of an audience with President Kabila.

Matata who has been the Prime Minister since 2012, said his government has done a “valuable work with a positive picture of the economy”.

“From the macroeconomic point of view we have achieved unprecedented performances in terms of exchange rate stability, even though in the last few months there have been [some] upheavals linked in particular to the international crisis,” he added.

The president is expected to address the nation on Tuesday in front of the congress, leader of the majority and president of the National Assembly Aubin Minaku announced.

The political agreement signed under the watch of the African Union-appointed facilitator Edem Kodjo, was endorsed by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who called for a “peaceful transition for peaceful elections.”

However, the agreement was opposed by the major opposition coalition which described it as non-inclusive and promised to protest till Kabila steps down when his mandate originally ends in December.</s>Augustin Matata Ponyo, then Democratic Republic of Congo prime minister, pictured during an interview in Kinshasa on April 13, 2015. By Federico Scoppa (AFP/File)

Kinshasa (AFP) - Congolese Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo resigned Monday to make way for an opposition figure to take his place following talks aimed at averting a political crisis.

"I have offered my resignation as well as those of the members of my government... to respond to the spirit and the letter of the accord," said Matata as he left a meeting with President Joseph Kabila, referring to the deal struck after a political dialogue boycotted by the main opposition parties.</s>Congolese Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo resigned Monday to make way for an opposition figure to take his place following talks aimed at averting a political crisis.

"I have offered my resignation as well as those of the members of my government... to respond to the spirit and the letter of the accord," said Matata as he left a meeting with President Joseph Kabila, referring to the deal struck after a political dialogue boycotted by the main opposition parties.</s>Democratic Republic of Congo's President Joseph Kabila will address a special joint session of Parliament Tuesday, a day after the prime minister resigned to make way for an opposition figure.

On Monday, the Prime Minister Augustin Matata and cabinet resigned as part of a deal that extends the tenure of President Kabila, who also defended the right of the Congolese people to change the constitution currently barring him from running again.

Kabila is supposed to step down when his mandate runs out on December 19, but his ruling coalition and part of the opposition agreed last month to delay a presidential vote until April 2018, citing logistical problems in registering millions of voters.

"I have just handed in my resignation and that of my government to the president of the republic in line with the spirit of the political accord signed on October 18," Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo said in a statement.

The government's departure should pave the way for a new cabinet with posts for some of those opposition figures who agreed to the election delay and to Kabila staying on as leader of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

However, the main opposition bloc has rejected the accord and more than 50 people died in street protests in September aimed at increasing pressure on Kabila to step down himself.

Kabila's critics say his aim is to change the constitution, which limits him to two terms in office, in order to secure a third. The country's constitutional court has given the go-ahead for the rescheduling of the election.

At a press conference on Monday, Communications Minister Lambert Mende quoted Kabila as pledging to respect the constitution, which ruled out running for a third term, after a visit by a UN Security Council delegation over the weekend meant to press for a peaceful transition.

"I have never stopped saying that the constitution will be respected and it excludes the possibility of a third term," he said.

But he added: "This does not in any way remove the right of the Congolese, like all sovereign people, to modify the constitution in three, four or five years, if they so desire."

Stephen Hickey, political counsellor at the UK Mission to the United Nations, had expressed concern over Kabila's insistence that the constitution could be amended.

Kabila became president following the assassination of his father in 2001, and he won disputed elections in 2006 and 2011.

World powers fear that the political impasse over Kabila's continued rule could reignite chaos in the vast nation spanning Africa's largest forest. Millions died in conflicts in Congo between 1998 and 2003 that sucked in armies from neighbouring states around the region.
Augustin Matata Ponyo resigns as Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.