Sworn-in after successfully conniving to dribble through the electoral process and law to be re-elected, Fèlix Tshisekedi has once again tasted appealing grip of power and riches of the land — too sweet that five-years seems too short, he wants to stay on.
So in the coming weeks, Tshisekedi will have to make the crucial decision between changing the Constitution and maintaining the current text that requires him to retire in 2028.
But before then, Tshisekedi has to settle the battle for the Prime Minister post between his ambitious and big-egoed allies in Vital Kamerhe and former warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba.
Prior to his bid for a second term, Tshisekedi engaged both Kamerhe and Bemba as well as Modeste Bahati soliciting for their support during the campaigns.
In exchange of their support during the election, Tshisekedi promised each one of them the very lucrative position of Prime Minister.
All seemed to have panned out well until the announcement of the election results by CENI President Dénis Kadima Kazadi with Bemba infuriated by the meagre number of allotted to his MLC party.
Bemba had toiled and even went as far as hurling insults at and xenophobic attacks on Tshisekedi’s presidential rival Moïse Katumbi only to be allocated just 20 national deputies out of 450.
Kamerhe, Tshisekedi’s favourite, took 36 national deputies to be in pole position for the Prime Minister post.
Typical of a former warlord, Bemba fumed and sent his MLP party thugs to cause chaos in Kinshasa before Tshisekedi stepped in to calm the situation by reaffirming to the war crimes ex-convict the status as his successor.
On other hand, Kamerhe poses as a key figure in Tshisekedi’s ambition to rule over the DRC past 2028.
“Vital Kamerhe felt that Tshisekedi wants to stay in power. He promised him to form a broad front for the change of the Constitution which should be adopted by 3/5 of the two chambers before June 15,” said a close friend of Kamerhe.
To support this quest, Kamerhe quickly formed an alliance with Jean-Lucien Bussa and Julien Paluku actually aims to ensure Tshisekedi remains in power and to counter the ambitions of Bemba who is becoming a nuisance for the Head of State.
For now, Kamerhe aims for the Prime Minister post and later initiate the process to amend the constitution for Tshisekedi’s continued stay in power.
If successful in their ambition, Tshisekedi is set to make Kamerhe his vice-president with the position of Prime Minister scrapped off.
Meanwhile, Tshisekedi could also play smart and take the route of betrayal by surprising both Kamerhe and Bemba by appointing an outsider as the potential battle between his two big-egoed allies jeopardizes his own ambitions to extend his stay in power.
