PREVIEW
A ‘national conversation’ that excludes the president's fiercest critics is unlikely to produce reconciliation. It may, however, produce a third term
A three-month ‘National Dialogue’ excluding rebels and loyalists to ex-president Joseph Kabila is meant to lead to a referendum on term limits – but the president's opponents walked out before the talks opened. President Felix Tshisekedi announced it as he lobbies for a third term.
The dates and the conditions of the dialogue weren’t spelled out by Tshisekedi in his national address on 28 August. But many see it as a ruse to win support for the bill adopted in June for constitutional changes – including term limit changes – to be put to a referendum.
The chances of the 2028 presidential and parliamentary polls being held on time are rapidly receding. None of the preparatory work to hold the elections has been done. After failing to secure support for constitutional changes, Kabila settled for delaying elections by two years to 2018 (AC Vol 67 No 12, Tshisekedi tests opinion with third-term kite). But Tshisekedi has grander ambitions.
The ‘National Dialogue’ could garner support from regional politicians for a Tshisekedi third term. Getting ‘the people’ to ask the President to stand again may prove easier than easier than facing down protestors in the big cities. Assembly deputies in several provinces have been receiving funds to encourage them to call for another mandate for Tshisekedi (Dispatches, 11/5/26, Tshisekedi flies a third term kite).
The dialogue will begin with consultations across Congo’s 26 provinces, followed by national talks in Kinshasa, Tshisekedi said. It is also an attempt to assuage the concerns of Congo's religious leaders, particularly the Catholic Church. Tshisekedi met with Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of Kinshasa Archdiocese on 17 July when he promised talks to promote ‘national unity’.
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