President's review bid aimed at 'third term'

DRC President Félix Tshisekedi has kick-started a constitutional review process, saying he wants a ‘dignified’ Constitution. The recently re-elected head of state announced his intention to ‘set up a commission to reflect on a new Constitution’, arguing that the Congolese law put in place in 2006 was a ‘post-conflict’ law. According to The East African, Tshisekedi complained, among other things, about the slowness in setting up political institutions such as the Bureau of the National Assembly and the government. Some opponents fear that Tshisekedi could set his term count back to zero, seeking a fresh mandate under the new supreme law if amended. Christian Mwando, who heads the opposition parliamentary group in the National Assembly, said the announcement was ‘an attempt at a third term’. Opposition leader Martin Fayulu's party said: ‘Tshisekedi’s manoeuvres are aimed at illegitimately maintaining himself in power, which he obtained by an electoral hold-up in 2018 and by a sham of elections in 2023. He is also concealing his inability to preserve the territorial integrity of the DRC in the face of the M23 rebels’. Much of French-speaking Africa has recently held debates about changing their Constitutions and extending the terms of office of heads of state.

Full report in The East African