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Why Tshisekedi tasked Kadima to rig parliamentary election
Congolese
President Félix Tshisekedi was declared winner of the December 2023,
presidential elections on December 31, by the Independent National Electoral
Commission (CENI).
It
came as no surprise considering the fact that, way before the elections, Tshisekedi
surrounded himself with a team of loyal collaborators to ensure another
victory.
Related: DRC’s
Tshisekedi wins second term. Is it the end of the story?
On top
of the presidential elections, about 18 million Congolese, elected their
national and provincial deputies (lawmakers) and, for the first time, municipal
councilors.
But
way before the counting of votes in all these categories got underway, sources
say, a plan to botch the process had been laid down.
Over
100,000 candidates were running for the four elections. Among them were 500 competing
for seats in the Congolese National Assembly. Tshisekedi instructed Denis
Kadima, the President of CENI, to allocate 300 seats to his close family
members, confidants and politicians from his party, the Union pour la Démocratie
et le Progrès Social (UDPS).
The
instructions given to Kadima are; at national level, 100 members of
Tshisekedi’s allies will be proclaimed as winners, despite their lack of effort
in campaigns. At the level of Provincial Assemblies, governors from the
presidential tribe, from Kinshasa, haut-Katanga, Lualaba, Tanganyika and Ituri,
will lead the lucrative provinces.
All
these appointees will be members of UDPS, followed by members of Jean-Pierre
Bemba’s Mouvement de Libération du Congo, (MLC), while the rest of the
political parties or independent candidates will be left out.
It is
reported that majority of the politicians who will be snubbed will most likely
join the newly-established Congolese politico-military opposition platform,
Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), led by Congolese opposition figure Corneille
Nangaa.
Tshisekedi
will appoint a Prime Minister from his party, as well as the two presidents of
the parliamentary chambers, and the presidents of the parliamentary
commissions.
Despite
being declared winner, Tshisekedi seems unconvinced of his own win, and is
covering all his tracks to make sure he is secure. He wants to have total control
of the institutions of power.
After
the elections, protesters in Goma, the capital city of North Kivu Province,
took to the streets on December 31, responding to the opposition's call for
mobilization against the sham election results.
Related: Will
Tshisekedi make a difference in his second term?
The Congolese
all over the country are challenging Tshisekedi’s sham win.
But
will they be heard if their lawmakers are Tshisekedi’s stooges?
