IN AFRICA, WE DO NOT CHANGE THE CONSTITUTION TO LEAVE POWER
IN AFRICA, WE DO NOT CHANGE THE CONSTITUTION TO LEAVE POWER
1. FELIX TSHISEKEDI's announcement to set up a commission to conduct a reflection to provide the Democratic Republic of Congo with a “dignified Constitution” worries more than one Congolese.
This concern is justified in view of the harmful consequences that such an enterprise could cause for a country whose eastern part is prey to rebellions of all kinds including that of the M23 exploited by Rwanda, on the one hand, and which seeks to restore national cohesion broken by the frustrations created by the 2023 elections, on the other hand.
2. In the current context, such a project will further divide the people Congolese or even the coalition that is in power. If some allies of the President of the Republic agree with him to lead the country together until 2028, I am not sure that they agree that he still leads the country after the end of his second and last term.
3. Revising the unlocked provisions of the Constitution is possible. The regime of President KABILA had already done this in 2011. But changing the Constitution to have another could open the way to modifying the provisions relating in particular to the number of mandates, the duration of the mandate and the method of election of the President of the Republic.
4. Already, we hear some Congolese close to power say that the 5-year mandate must be increased to 7 or 9 years renewable, the election of the President of the Republic by universal suffrage must be reduced to indirect suffrage, that is to say election of the President by the National Assembly.
5. All this reinforces our distrust of the process that the President of the Republic wants launch to provide the country with a “worthy Constitution”.
It is clear that in Africa, the countries which have equipped themselves with worthy constitutions, it was in the cases of revolution or national conferences that Africa experienced around the 90s (Niger, Benin, Mali, etc.)
6. The history of Africa also shows that if the initiative to modify or change the constitution is taken by the strong man of the country, it results in the strengthening of his power or the establishment of mechanisms which allow him to retain power for himself or for his party or political grouping (Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Chad, RCA, Togo, Gabon, Mali, etc.) Will the process that FELIX TSHISEKEDI wants to launch escape this African reality? I don't think so.
Someone will say that it is a trial of intent. It's very possible.
7. The fact that we do not feel, fundamentally, the difference between the governance of President TSHISEKEDI and that of President Joseph KABILA, must alert us and put us in a position of maximum citizen surveillance of this initiative.
Anything can happen.
The fact that those who support respect for the fundamentals of the current constitution are regularly threatened leads us to believe that something bad is on the horizon. Why threaten others if the intentions are good?
8. If those who want to upset the Constitution have good intentions, they should welcome the fact that we have Congolese who remain on the lookout to protect the Constitution.
All I ask of everyone is that we can remain on the lookout as we did during the time of President Joseph KABILA.
Staying on the lookout is not a crime.
Analysis by Jean Claude Katende