Congo Coming Apart Again
3rd November 2016
The date of the national election continues to slip as the country slides toward violent political confrontation. It looks like President Joseph Kabila will remain president past December 19, the day he is supposed to step down and turn the office over to a duly elected successor. One opposition group agreed to let the election slip to April 2016. However, some of Kabila’s supporters are now insisting on a November 2018 date. One national election officials has mentioned December 2018. The UN, African Union (AU) and donor countries are encouraging Kabila’s government and the political opposition “to continue to pursue inclusive political dialogue.” That’s diplo-speak for keep talking instead of fighting. The government put down the September demonstrations in the capital, Kinshasa, but sporadic demonstrations and strikes continue. The demonstration of September 19 did turn violent. That’s the day Congo’s Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) failed to initiate the presidential election process required by the constitution. Alas, CENI wasn’t independent. The UN now estimates that 53 people were killed and over 100 wounded on September 19. The Congolese political opposition is a hodge-podge and anything but united, but that reflects the Congo. It is a fractured country. The political opposition begins with the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) which has always opposed Kabila. It now includes several former Kabila supporters in the Union for the Congolese Nation (UNC) and the G7 (group of seven) small parties that left Kabila’s party in 2015. Despite the opposition’s divisions, many Congolese are angry with Kabila’s complete disregard of the constitution. Militants in the political parties are demanding action. All of the big parties have “militant wings” that could quickly become militias. In fact, some of them were armed militias in the Great Congo War (1998-2003).