Félix Antoine Tshisekedi

Rival opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi and the ruling coalition candidate Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary are trailing with around 20% each we hear (AC Vol 59 No 25 The Twelve Fixes of Christmas)...

A day later Felix Tshisekedi and Vital Kamerhe pulled out of the pact citing the furious reactions back home of the parties they lead – the Union pour la démocratie et le progrès social  (UDPS) the largest opposition party which was founded in the early 1980s by Tshisekedi's father and the Union pour la nation congolaise (UNC) another major political player (AC Vol 58 No 11 Kabila thriving on chaos)...

They opted for Martin Fayulu an articulate national parliamentarian who can mobilise the Kinshasa street but the next day Félix Tshisekedi son of the late and perennial opposition candidate Etienne Tshisekedi pulled out quickly followed by former information minister Vital Kamerhe...

CENI had previously responded to a series of technical questions submitted by the Union pour la démocratie et le progrès social led by Félix Tshisekedi son of the long-time oppositionist Étienne...

Kasaï Central has historically been a stronghold of the opposition Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social (UDPS) but its leader Felix Tshisekedi has not impressed locally having yet to set foot in the province after inheriting the mantle from his late father Etienne (AC Vol 59 No 16 Kabila names his dauphin)...

The other two main possible candidates Felix Tshisekedi son of the legendary Etienne and Moïse Katumbi were each on 19%...

The MLC had initially resisted endorsing the idea of a transition sans Kabila ('transition without Kabila') but changed its tune on the same day Félix Tshisekedi the Rassemblement's President met Bemba in The Hague where Bemba is serving an International Criminal Court sentence for war crimes and crimes against humanity...

'Joseph Kabila and his servant Corneille Nangaa have declared war on the Congolese people ' said Felix Tshisekedi the leader of the Rassemblement de l'opposition congolaise...

Most of the coalition has lined up behind Etienne Tshisekedi's son Félix Tshisekedi and Pierre Lumbi Okongo President of the G-7 a group of seven political parties which left the MP in September 2015 and backs Moïse Katumbi Chapwe a one-time Kabila ally and former Governor of Katanga to become the next president...

It is unclear what overall impact these machinations will have on the UDPS leadership succession but speculation is rife that Félix Tshisekedi the presumed political heir to his father's network is quickly losing support from hardliners who think he was too soft on the negotiations that culminated on 31 December...