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With a series of tactical victories, the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, has challenged critics who saw him as a weak politician living in the shadow of a famous father, although the future of his strategy remains uncertain .
When the bear-like figure was sworn in as president in January 2019, the start of his term was anything but auspicious.
Tshisekedi made his opening speech and then briefly passed out, a result of the intense heat and a heavy bulletproof vest he was not used to wearing.
For critics, the embarrassing episode was appropriate.
For years, Tshisekedi had only been known through his father, the veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, and rose to the presidency thanks to electoral results that many in the opposition condemned as false.
Strengthening this impression of weakness was the man who stood unmoved by Tshisekedi at his inauguration: outgoing President Joseph Kabila.
Outgoing President Joseph Kabila, left, at Tshisekedi’s inauguration in January 2019. By TONY KARUMBA (AFP / Archive) After taking over from his father, Kabila had ruled the troubled giant of Africa for 18 years.
Kabila peacefully handing over the reins was an exceptional moment in the history of the Democratic Republic of Congo, but many privately thought that he would remain the power in the background.
Victories
Today, the 57-year-old Tshisekedi has reversed much of this narrative, impressing many with a long-term strategy to make his own mark on the presidency.
He began by expelling two Kabila-appointed security chiefs, intelligence chief Kalev Mutond and the inspector general of the armed forces, John Numbi, and then appointed three new judges to the highest court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
This week, he effectively broke a secret deal with Kabila under which he would share the government with the former president’s supporters, who have the majority in parliament.
Frustrated by the coalition in its plans to push through reforms, Tshisekedi said he would seek to forge another ruling majority within the National Assembly, or else dissolve the legislature.
The National Assembly votes during a week of turmoil in the politics of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. By ALEXIS HUGUET (AFP / Archive) On Thursday, unresponsive to accusations that the president was trying to impose a “dictatorship,” pro-Tshisekedi lawmakers, along with new allies, pushed for a vote that forced the president of the assembly, Jeanine Mabunda, to leave.
Observers say these accomplishments reflect Tshisekedi’s understated qualities of calm, courtesy, and ability to build relationships.
“His father Etienne was stubborn and proud,” said an analyst in Kinshasa. “Felix is more diplomatic, more conciliatory, more capable of listening to others.”
“(He) seems to be a calmer man, rooted in common sense, almost a Belgian-style sense of commitment,” said Colette Braeckman, a specialist on the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the Belgian newspaper Le Soir.
Uncertainties
Despite these advances, the future of Tshisekedi’s hopes of wresting control over the levers of power remains unclear.
For now, Kabila appears to be on the defensive, although many believe he retains substantial influence through allies in parliament and appointees in the military.
His followers in the Common Front of Congo (FCC) have urged him to intervene, but, in the words of a civil society source, “Joseph Kabila is not suicidal.”
A map of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. By (AFP / Archive) Kabila, the source noted, had carefully avoided taking the same path as other African leaders: He chose to resign rather than provocatively seek a third term.
The former president made a rare public appearance Friday at the Kolwezi cobalt mining center, but declined to speak publicly, as he has since leaving power.
Tshisekedi, for his part, is clearly concerned about the loyalty of the security forces.
Last week, before a big speech on Sunday in which he declared that he would eliminate the coalition, Tshisekedi brought together the heads of the armed forces and the police, who, according to the army spokesman, promised to remain “apolitical.”
On Thursday he held another meeting with army officials, who promised they would “only carry out his orders,” according to the presidency.
On the diplomatic front, Tshisekedi’s reform effort is being strongly supported by the main Western players in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: the former colonial power Belgium, as well as France and the United States.
But they have also warned of the potential for violence in the country, the battleground of two regional wars in the 1990s whose bloody legacy resonates today in the eastern provinces.
On Tuesday, the police were dispatched to parliament to end clashes between rival MPs.
“Violent incidents … constitute unacceptable damage to the rule of law and the Congolese institutions,” said the UN representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Leila Zerrougui.
A lasting crisis “could have serious repercussions on the economic and security situation of the country,” he warned.
