Kabila Names Partial Government In Power Move, Ousts Competitor Who Sought To Be Prime Minister
President Laurent Kabila today announced the partial formation of a government that places most power in his own hands while eliminating the post of prime minister, setting the stage for angry confrontations with opposition supporters.
The late-night announcement ended Etienne Tshisekedi’s chances of holding the prime minister’s job he had demanded.
“It’s a presidential system,” the new information minister, Raphael Genda, said at a news conference. The decision appeared to be the result of a standoff between Kabila and Tshisekedi, the country’s most prominent opposition activist, who had made clear he would settle for nothing less than the top job.
“The reason why there is no Tshisekedi is political,” said Gaetan Kakudji, a top official of Kabila’s Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo.
Thirteen cabinet ministers were named, with seven coming from the Alliance and the others from other political groups, including two from Tshisekedi’s party. None came from parties allied with the ousted regime of Mobutu Sese Seko.
“We were open to any tendency except Mobutu’s followers, those who terrorized and oppressed our people,” Kakudji said. “We’ve forgiven, but we can’t forget what the oppressors did.”
On Thursday, hundreds of Tshisekedi supporters gathered outside the activist’s home in the capital of Kinshasa to support his bid to be prime minister, a job he held and was ousted from twice under Mobutu.
Standing before a huge portrait of Tshisekedi propped against the hedge surrounding his house, the supporters warned they would oppose Kabila unless he shares power.
“It will prove he’s a dictator just like Mobutu if he ignores the people’s wishes,” Wamulumba Mulumba said.
The United States has urged Kabila to form an inclusive government, and the U.S. ambassador to the neighboring Republic of Congo noted Thursday that Mobutu paid the price for keeping all power to himself.
“Mobutu is responsible for the rebellion, because he never brought in all those elements of the opposition,” Aubrey Hooks told reporters in Brazzaville, across the river from Kinshasa.
Such comments at home and from abroad indicate the delicacy of transforming a rebel movement into a government able to meet the demands of an impatient population kept in check during nearly 32 years of Mobutu rule.
Tshisekedi and others imprisoned and abused for fighting the Mobutu regime expect to be rewarded for their efforts, but Kabila must weigh their demands with those of rebel officials who worked with him throughout the war.
Kabila can ill-afford to anger Tshisekedi’s supporters, who proved their strength over the years with strikes that crippled the capital and marches that led to fierce clashes between protesters and Mobutu’s soldiers.
At the same time, it was doubtful he would want to give too powerful a position to a man with little international respect who is prone to rash moves and has shown little inclination to compromise.