The political outcome of the present crises in the DRC may turn into a path that, afterwards, can be seen as a speeding up of the political development. Watch this one (Wash. P):
"Among those who warned Kabila against reliance on Rwanda was veteran
Congolese opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, and today Tshisekedi
emerged from a long silence on the fighting to say, in effect, I told you so.
"Now, we see the same," he said of Rwanda. "They are repeating
themselves. They are coming by force."
Despite Rwanda's involvement, Tshisekedi offered to meet with the
Congolese rebel leaders and with Kabila to try to mediate an end to the
conflict. "I would like to make [Kabila] understand that all this is happening
because you did not follow what we said to you in the first place,"
Tshisekedi said.
Tshisekedi is viewed by many here as the nation's only legitimate leader
because he was elected prime minister from a transitional parliament set up
when Mobutu declared an end to one-party rule in Zaire in 1990. Mobutu
later removed him from that office, but Tshisekedi and his supporters have
maintained ever since that he is the nation's only legitimate leader.
When Kabila came to power, he sidelined Tshisekedi and the transitional
parliament, just as Mobutu had. Kabila jailed many senior members of
Tshisekedi's party, the Democratic Union for Social Progress, and exiled
Tshisekedi to his home village for five months.
Although Tshisekedi has no role in the current government, he maintains a
substantial political following and is a symbol of the aborted transition
process of the early 1990s, when Congo seemed set to embrace electoral
democracy. Kabila had promised free elections here next year, but his
moves against political opponents had cast doubt on that pledge."
Regards,
Gunnar |
