KINSHASA, Congo — Congo’s president is not running again in December’s long-delayed elections, easing concerns by the opposition and international community that he would try to stay in office and positioning one of Africa’s most turbulent nations for what could be its first peaceful, democratic transfer of power.

President Joseph Kabila will remain influential, however. He chose former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, the ruling party’s permanent secretary, as the candidate for the newly formed Common Front for Congo coalition.

Government spokesman Lambert Mende announced the decision on Wednesday, just hours before the deadline for candidates to register.

The 57-year-old Shadary is among nine Congolese sanctioned by the European Union last year for obstructing the electoral process and for related human rights violations.

International pressure had been growing on Kabila and his government over the election delay since late 2016, with the US in June announcing visa bans on several Congolese senior officials but not naming names. It cited their involvement in ‘‘significant corruption’’ related to the electoral process.