In the DRC, an anti-Tshisekedi front is emerging for the December presidential election

Is this the first step towards the constitution of a common front against Felix Tshisekedi in the perspective of the presidential election of December 2023? Friday, April 14, in Lubumbashi, four Congolese opposition leaders, all putative candidates – Martin Fayulu (Engagement for Citizenship and Development or ECiDé), Moïse Katumbi (Ensemble pour la République), Augustin Matata Ponyo (Leadership and Governance for le développement or LGD) and Delly Sesanga (Envol de la RDC) – decided to “join their ideas and their forces”.

The four ambitious do not plan to propose a common political program, even less to present a single candidacy against the current head of state, but to “carry out joint actions with a view to obtaining the organization, within the deadlines constitutional, transparent, impartial, inclusive and peaceful elections”.

“Is it a platform in the sense of a political coalition? It’s too early to say,” said a participant in the meeting, for whom the next step will undoubtedly be “opening up to other political forces and civil society actors”. As a first action, the four leaders are planning a demonstration on May 13 in Kinshasa to demand a transparent and fair electoral process.

If it responds to shared demands, the meeting of these four opposition figures was however not obvious. The 2018 presidential election left deep scars. Moïse Katumbi and Martin Fayulu then placed themselves under the same banner, a political platform competing with that of Felix Tshisekedi, before taking opposite paths.

By mutual interest

Although contesting the victory of the current head of state, Moïse Katumbi had first joined the new presidential movement, helping him to break his alliance with his predecessor, Joseph Kabila. Then he distanced himself. Martin Fayulu, who never stopped claiming victory in the 2018 presidential election, had no words harsh enough to condemn Mr. Katumbi.

Eight months before a new election, the two men would therefore be better disposed, at least out of mutual interest. “We must forget the past. We have to see the future, see the suffering of the population. If we are here, it is not for us,” swears Moïse Katumbi. “We have to kill the self within us. If we are reborn, we will build a truly free, strong and prosperous Congo,” echoes Martin Fayulu.

At their side, the deputy Delly Sesanga, nicknamed by some “the new Fayulu” for his oratorical talents and his combativeness, tries to build a national stature. “For some time, the regime has accustomed us to governing this country in contempt of the law, in non-compliance with procedures”, denounced in Lubumbashi the lawyer and deputy of the Luiza constituency in Kasaï-Central, a stronghold of the head of state.

The case of Joseph Kabila

Delly Sesanga, Moïse Katumbi and Martin Fayulu all three wore the colors of the Lamuka coalition, which supported the latter’s candidacy in 2018. The fourth man, Augustin Matata Ponyo, on the other hand, is a newcomer to the opposition. Seen as a potential successor to Joseph Kabila after having been his prime minister for four years, he finally broke with the political family of the former president. Now at the head of his own party, this 58-year-old economist displays his presidential ambition without shyness. Like his three new “allies”.

And they are not alone. In the DRC, already a dozen personalities have expressed their ambition. Not to mention those to whom we lend the intention, like Denis Mukwege. The gynecologist, human rights activist and 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is a locally respected public figure and admired in Europe and the United States. With the opponents who come to consult him, he shares the same concerns about the electoral process. “[Denis] Mukwege is an actor in civil society, he wants to remain so”, assures a member of his entourage to cut short his supposed ambitions.

Finally, the hypothesis of an anti-Tshisekedi front would be incomplete without mentioning the case of Joseph Kabila. His political formation, the People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD), was not in Lubumbashi. The former president does not participate in the voter registration campaign and follows a path that today resembles a boycott of the ballot.