DRC PM Sylvestre Ilunga resigns after impeachment

Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba

Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba formally resigned on Friday as prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), submitting his letter to President Félix Tshisekedi. Ilunga, a key ally of Tshisekedi's predecessor Joseph Kabila, resigned a day after the National Assembly censured him for incompetence.

It is reported that his team will manage current affairs until the next government is appointed. Ilunga had headed a coalition cabinet for 15 months. But MPs passed a vote of no confidence in his government on Wednesday and he was given 24 hours to resign.

Tshisekedi has yet to choose a new prime minister, who will form the next government and Presidency spokesman Giscard Kusema is quoted saying it was "too soon" to say when President Tshisekedi would appoint the next PM.

Ilunga was dismissed by the vote of parliamentarians on Wednesday, as 367 of the 500 deputies in Parliament voted for his removal and his government. Members of Parliament listed grievances against the Prime Minister, including poor governance.

His resignation now means that President Tshisekedi is free to appoint a prime minister from his own parliamentary majority. In December last year, President Tshisekedi dissolved the alliance   between his own coalition party Cap for Change (CACH) and that of the former president -The Common Front for Congo (FCC).

Since Tshisekedi’s election in January 2019, his government found it difficult to pass and implement important decisions due to the fact that Kabila had the numbers in parliament that blocked and undermined the government's plans. Political analysts say that there was a power struggle meant to weaken Tshisekedi’s government.