[EDITO] – The Congolese people waited seven months and two days to finally see the first FCC-CACH coalition government formed. According to the President of the Republic, the time that has elapsed is not to be considered as a time that has been wasted. It was used by the two political camps, formerly adversaries and today forced to coalesce, to know each other. Zoom Eco looks back on the chronology of this long historical expectation for this first government of alternation.
January 24, 2019. President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi is officially invested. Proclaimed elected by the Constitutional Court on Saturday, January 19, the new head of state did not have a parliamentary majority in the National Assembly, the latter being held by the camp of the outgoing. In the hypothesis of cohabitation, he should seek his prime minister within the said majority, from Monday, January 28, the date of the start of the parliamentary session.
Felix Tshisekedi and Joseph Kabila have seen each other several times to discuss the issue. Front or off-camera, face-to-face or in the presence of their closest collaborators. But history will remember that they have taken more than 100 days without agreeing on the name of the future prime minister before this symbolic deadline.
May 20, 2019. Outgoing Prime Minister Bruno Tshibala resigns to the President of the Republic, Félix Antoine Tshisekedi, who accepts him. This will not only lead to the resignation of his entire government but also pave the way for the appointment of the new Prime Minister, the rare bird Sylvester Ilunga Ilunkamba.
July 29, 2019. The Common Front for Congo (FCC) and Cape Town for Change (CACH) publicly seal their union. Objective: to ensure joint governance of the country taking into account the aspirations of the people. The agreement caps the size of the government team at 65, except for the prime minister. It identifies the number of ministers at 48 and vice-ministers at 17. And sets the repair key between the two coalition political forces at 23 positions for the CACH and 42 for the FCC. What releases, in percentage, a report of 35% for the camp Félix Antoine Tshisekedi against 65% for the political family of Joseph Kabila.
August 7, 2019. Prime Minister Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba officially begins the formal consultations of the forces that make up the coalition and the various social bodies with a view to training his government team.
August 12, 2019. It was the solemn surrender of the lists of FCC – CACH ministers to the government trainer. As soon as they were received, these lists were returned to the senders with the mention « unfinished work ». Prime Minister Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba has been keen to enforce the criteria he has set for platforms for their proposals lists of candidate ministers
This university professor will give them a second chance to satisfy in second session. « There is no shame to succeed in the second session, only success matters, » he said in a statement.
August 15, 2019. The President of the National Assembly convenes the extraordinary session for the period from September 19 to 7, with the aim, in particular, of investing the coalition government.
August 19, 2019. Prime Minister Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba reassured the President of the Republic, Félix Antoine Tshisekedi, that the latest version of his government team will be presented to him within 72 hours. It was during an official hearing.
August 21, 2019. While in Luanda for the signing of the peace agreement between Rwanda and Uganda, the head of state announced the imminence of the Government. « Hopefully, I think the government will be ready this week. I think it’s a matter of hours. Hopefully, tomorrow I will receive the Prime Minister with the first draft of the government composition. If it is endorsed, we can, at the end of the day, announce the composition of the government, « he said in response to a question from a journalist.
In the meantime, the impatience of the Congolese people continued to manifest itself over the two days that followed until they saw the constituted Ilunkamba Government.
August 24, 2019. The Head of State, who again received the Prime Minister, recaled the lists for the last two adjustments. In fact, according to its orientations, it was a question of taking into account the provincial representativeness and the integration of representatives of associations of people living with disabilities.
The stakes were high as there was a need to make adjustments for four ministerial positions to integrate the three unrepresented provinces and the delegate for vulnerable people. This work was chained on Sunday until the wee hours of Monday, August 26, 2019.
Thus, Félix – Antoine Tshisekedi took seven months and two days to set up his first five-year government. There will have been heated and sometimes tense bargaining between the two political families, who finally found common ground to walk together.
Eric TSHIKUMA