Regional
DRC PM Sylvestre Ilunga resigns after impeachment
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.