Will Congo’s President Push a Third Term? |
Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Africa Brief.
The highlights this week: The Congolese opposition pushes back against a new bill that could extend President Felix Tshisekedi’s time in office, a South Sudanese whistleblower is abducted in Nairobi, and Washington cuts funding for HIV and AIDS treatment in South Africa.
Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Africa Brief.
The highlights this week: The Congolese opposition pushes back against a new bill that could extend President Felix Tshisekedi’s time in office, a South Sudanese whistleblower is abducted in Nairobi, and Washington cuts funding for HIV and AIDS treatment in South Africa.
Violent clashes erupted between protesters and state security forces earlier this month in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, over a bill that could create a pathway for a third term for President Felix Tshisekedi. At least one protester was reportedly killed and at least 38 others injured, according to the United Nations Human Rights Office.
A broad alliance of opposition parties, known as the Article 64 Coalition for the Defense of Constitutional Order (C64), organized the June 12 demonstrations and has planned further protests on July 8. It has denounced the bill, which Parliament ended up adopting last week, as an attempt by Tshisekedi to remain in power.
Currently, Congo’s constitution allows presidents to serve a maximum of two five-year terms. The bill, however, permits a constitutional overhaul through a national referendum if state institutions face “major dysfunction.” Any new constitution would also effectively reset Tshisekedi’s time in office, allowing him to serve a third term as if it were his first. The bill still awaits the president’s signature.
“I have not asked for a third term, but I tell you this: If the people want me to have a third term, I will accept,” Tshisekedi said at a press conference in May. His second term is set to end in 2028.
Congo’s Catholic bishops, who hold considerable political influence, warned on Saturday that the bill risks plunging the country further into instability. Members of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo said that they see “neither the necessity, nor the urgency, nor the appropriateness” of changing the constitution, arguing that Congolese leaders should instead seek to foster peace.
“In a context where political rivalries increasingly take on ethnic and tribal dimensions, the outbreak of another civil war is a real possibility,” the bishops added.
Delly Sesanga, a member of the C64 coalition and the leader of opposition party Envol, welcomed the bishops’ statement. “Touching the constitutional pact today is deliberately adding a political crisis to an already existential security crisis,” he said.
Congo faces........