deputies and activists in the assembly for the suspension between Kabila and the Tshisekedi camps
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), it is a test day for pro-Tshisekedi and the opposition following the announcement of the end of the coalition with Joseph Kabila’s camp. The opposition and professionals Tshisekedi want to bring down the National Assembly’s office. After two days of incidents between coalition activists against pro Kabila, the petitions against the seven members of the lower house of parliament will be examined on Thursday afternoon.
With our correspondents in Kinshasa, Patient Ligodi and Pascal Mulegwa
For professionals Félix Tshisekedi, the effort is to move the parliamentary majorityacquired by his predecessor Joseph Kabila. One of the stages in this operation is to change the National Assembly’s catalog. And this is done through petitions initiated against each member of the office that is largely dominated by the believers of the former president.
In order to do this, it was necessary to mobilize more Members of Parliament, to persuade them to take part in this process, which some describe as irregular, which will no doubt be done so that Members from all walks of life arrive. At noon, about 200 deputies are already present and more are arriving. Some professionals Joseph Kabila claim that they have come to prove that the majority has not changed. They announce their decision to vote to maintain the current office headed by Jeanine Mabunda. In the meantime, polling booths and ballot boxes have already been installed.
Today’s second challenge is to secure the People’s Palace, the seat of Parliament, to avoid collisions between Félix Tshisekedi’s camp and Joseph Kabila. The bet has not yet been won because the two groups have mobilized, pro-Joseph Kabila is smaller, but the risk of confrontation is there despite the presence of the police who have been placed around the building, a very deterrent security device.
Tensions between law enforcement and activists
Parliament’s seat is completely crossed by police units mobilized to block the way for activists who want to invest in the National Assembly. Without banners or badges, it is difficult to know which political party they belong to, even though most say they come from the UDPS, the presidential party. Just before 12 o’clock, the police dispersed them with tear gas. “The instructions were given to avoid crime,” one of the heads of law enforcement operations told RFI.
“Kabila is finished, Jeanine Mabunda will fall,” chant activists gathered a hundred meters from the parliament. The police intend to keep the same unit until the end of the plenary session. As they passed before entering the People’s Palace, some pro Kabila deputies were appointed by the militants.
If the device is also a deterrent, it is also to prevent infiltration into the plenum.Tuesday, pro-Kabila accused his opponents of rejecting his militants as elected officials. This is what the police also control today, they control that no weapon is introduced in the enclosure of the People’s Palace in the plenary hall. Many journalists had difficulty accessing the building.
If, for the petitioners, Jeanine Mabunda’s office falls, on behalf of the FCC, it is assured that the slogan has been given to elected officials to protect this office by voting against the petitions. In the event of failure, his caciques assure that the real show of power would be during the election of the new office.
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