In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the joy spurred by the adoption on November 11, 2018, in Geneva, Switzerland of a coalition agreement by the seven main opposition leaders for a common candidate for the upcoming presidential elections of December 23, 2018, quickly turned south.

Indeed, on November 12, 2018, Félix Tshisekedi, president of Union for Democracy and Social Progress, and Vital Kamerhe, leader of the Union for the Congolese Nation (UNC), announced their withdrawal from the agreement according to which Martin Fayulu, leader of Dynamic Opposition, should become the opposition’s single candidate for the coming presidential elections.

Félix Tshisekedi explained this decision by invoking his party base’s refusal to vote for any candidate except him. “I withdraw my signature. I can’t go against my base’s will, it would be like signing the death warrant of my political career”, he said in an interview with the radio Top Congo FM.

UNC’s militants also asked their leader to withdraw from the coalition agreement.

"I, therefore, announce that I'm withdrawing my signature to respect my base’s will. Without that base, I will just be punishing myself and exclude myself from the party,” Vital Kamerhe said. "The political leadership asked me to respect the demand made by the party’s base. I don’t want to comment on this decision because it is above all personal choices”, he added.

Contacted by RFI, Martin Fayulu, president of Commitment to Citizenship and Development party, explained that he could not understand the withdrawal of Tshisekedi and Kamerhe but, he assured that he could still count on the support of the other four leaders. "I don’t really understand the motives behind this choice. We met, we freely discussed and everybody said that they needed a single candidate for the opposition. I don’t really get it. What is the message we are sending to the rest of the world? This shows that some people are into politics just for their personal benefits, for the interest of the clan, not for the supreme interest of the nation”, he said.

"I called the others, Moïse Katumbi, Jean-Pierre Bemba, Adolphe Muzito and Freddy Matungulu notably. They said their commitment remains the same. We were seven. Now we are five. We have the large majority and we are moving forward. We think that we will win these battles… This battle of a free transparent and peaceful election without voting machines”, Martin Fayulu added.

Born in Kinshasa where he is a deputy, Mr. Fayulu is a fierce critic of Joseph Kabila and of Mobutu before him. He attended Paris XII university where he graduated with a master in Economics; Paris Business School and the European University of America in San Francisco, California, where he got his MBA. Most of the 62-year-old politician’s career was in the oil company ExxonMobil.

During the 2011 presidential elections, DR Congo’s opposition was unable to choose a single candidate; a disagreement which allowed the outgoing president Joseph Kabila to win that election with 48.9% of the votes for this one round election. 

Lire aussi:

https://www.ecofinagency.com/public-management/1211-39250-dr-congo-opposition-leaders-choose-martin-fayulu-as-the-single-candidate-for-upcoming-presidential-election