Democracy is also in danger in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In June, two important opposition leaders called for a boycott of the forthcoming election, scheduled for next December. The former President, Joseph Kabila urged his supporters not to register on the electoral lists and accused the Supreme Court whose judges were appointed by President Felix Tshisekedi in violation of the constitution to be “partial and corrupt”.
Martin Fayulu, who appeared as the landslide winner of the 2018 presidential winner according to the monitoring teams of the roman catholic national bishops conference (CENCO), said shortly afterwards that his party ECIDE (Engagement for Citizenship and Development), would not participate in the upcoming elections if the voters list was not redone and audited. Accordingly, voter identification and registration were organized in total opacity, which is proof of the planning of fraud. CENCO and the main protestant churches also reported for months of delays and issues with the registration of voters.
Earlier, on 20 May, a demonstration called by Fayulu, the popular former governor of Katanga, Moise Katumbi and former Prime Minister, Augustin Matata Ponyo was banned by the Kinshasa authorities. Besides a massive mobilization of the police, militias of Tshisekedi’s party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) were displayed around the streets where the march was supposed to take place, armed with machetes, to intimidate demonstrators.
The arrest of Katumbi’s adviser, Salomon Kalonda, on 30 May, at the Kinshasa airport came as a shock for the opposition. The military intelligence accused Kalonda of spying on behalf of Rwanda and of the M23 Congolese Tutsi rebels. But this justification is considered as a pretext by Katumbi supporters who blame an attempt to involve their leader in a fake plot against Tshisekedi to prevent him to run in December. Tensions are also rising between the President and the churches. In a speech at the stadium of Mbuji-Mayi, on 25 June, President Tshisekedi attacked the roman catholic church, which calls for free, fair and transparent elections, blaming its “dangerous drift”. During the speech, Tshisekedi stated: “I will attack without hesitation or remorse any Congolese who poses a threat to the security and stability of the country. No matter what people say about human rights violations, deprivation of liberty”.
In Burundi, the main opposition party, the National Council for Liberty (CNL) led by Agathon Rwasa was suspended on 7 June by the Minister of Interior, Martin Niteretse who took the pretext of an internal dispute within the CNL to order a ban of its activities. The CNL called the decision a “serious violation of the constitution” which prohibits interference of the government into the functioning of political parties. Such decision could ruin the conditions for free and fair legislative elections in 2025.
Concerning the DRC, the US, the EU and other Western powers said in a joint statement that an audit of the electoral lists set by DRC’s Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), by international experts in May had not “fostered the public perception of independent and transparent oversight”. But in contrast with the International Organization of Francophonie which refused to approve the preparation of the ballots by CENI, the EU took in June a much softer approach. The leader of a team of the European External Action Service said after talks with CENI’s chairman Denis Kadima, that Brussels would announce in September if the conditions were met to send an EU mission of observers. No real pressure is exerted on the Congolese authorities to correct the situation.
The DRC is emerging as a strategic partner for the European automotive industry, at a time when most of its cobalt, copper and lithium resources used for the production of batteries for electric cars, are in the hands of the Chinese. In June, the EU and the DRC were holding talks to set up a partnership for the exploitation of rare and strategic minerals. The EU is indeed eager to reduce its dependency from Chinese batteries, while Kinshasa is willing to benefit from the bonanza and the opportunities to set up a value chain including the beneficiation of its minerals locally. The stakes are considerable for both sides, which might explain why the EU, as the US which also promised to help the DRC to build its own batteries plants, is not so keen to spoil the atmosphere by lecturing Tshisekedi on human rights and democracy.
CREDIT: SOUTHWORLD.NET
