Mr. Felix Tshisekedi has been sworn in as the fifth president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in a ceremony that took place at the Palace of Nations, the official residency of the president.
The ceremony was the first of its kind in postcolonial D.R. Congo, which until this Thursday had yet to witness such a peaceful transfer of power from the incumbent to his successor, more so a former opposition candidate.
The auspicious event was briefly interrupted when President Tshisekedi couldn’t carry on with his speech, and required a few minutes rest before he could resume his inaugural address as president. According to his spokesman, President Tshisekedi had to remove his flak jacket as it had been set too tight.
The president promised to release political prisoners and work towards a reconciled Congo.
The president of Kenya, and ambassadors from the USA, France, and Japan were among the dignitaries that attended the inauguration.
While the outgoing president is set to be a senator for life, as stipulated by the Congolese constitution, Pres. Tshisekedi has a much thornier road ahead.
Cohabitation & other challenges
Given how the parliamentary results turned out, it seems President Tshisekedi is headed for a government in cohabitation, unless he has a working agreement with the former ruling party, as he’s been widely accused of by Martin Fayulu, the runner up to the December elections.
In parliament, Pres. Tshisekedi’s coalition, Cach, led by the UDPS party, claims only 46 seats. Martin Fayulu’s Lamuka coalition has 102 seats. The former ruling party, PPRD is at the head of a super coalition, the Common Front for Congo, FCC, which has 337 seats. This means the FCC has a 2/3 majority in parliament.
Considered alongside the highly divergent presidential results, these results would suggest something went amiss, or that the FCC supporters somehow chose to vote in Tshisekedi in the presidential ballot over their own candidate, but maintain support for their own in the legislative contest.
Whatever the case, President Tshisekedi must work with a parliament in which his party is a minority.
Because the Prime Minister the president nominates must be approved by parliament, it is likely that the FCC will only approve one from their ranks, setting up a situation in which the president and the prime minister come from different coalitions, also known as a cohabitation.
Furthermore, Joseph Kabila, Pres. Tshisekedi’s predecessor, will be in the Senate, a position that would allow him to exert some political influence if he so desired.
It thus seems that achieving far-reaching change, such as fighting the “gangrene of corruption”, may be greatly impeded by the composition of the legislature. The same may be said of the judiciary, whose top echelons are believed to lean towards Kabila, having been appointed by him during his 18-year reign as president.
Beyond the maneuverings at the capital, President Tshisekedi has to bring some semblance of a government to a vast territory that is lacking in infrastructure. Militias run riot in the east, the exploitation of the nation’s vast mineral wealth is an unending concern, there’s an Ebola outbreak to contend with, a rebellion in the Kasai provinces, and a youthful population that is highly hopeful that jobs will now be available.
By Matengo Chwanya
Africa Global News Publication
