DRC: Non innocent alliances between Kabila and the CNDP

By on December 15, 2010

At one year of the presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), President Joseph Kabila has come with the new political gamble, but also a sound implied response to the popularity of the all regimes’ opponent, Etienne Tshisekedi: the rallying of the former rebel movement, now a political party – the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), which joined the Presidential Alliance Movement (PAM) and thus joining the “Kabila Clan” for the 2011 elections’ race.

Enemies of yesterday … but allies of today, this merger seems to be dictated by a simple electoral calculation by the Rally for Development and Peace in the Congo (RDPC). The Alliance between the Presidential majority (PAM) and the CNDP is considered as an alternative solution to the fears and anxiety posed by the current events in Ivory Coast. Through this rally, the Congolese president is securing his grip on the Kivu region to ensure control over all polling stations in areas not currently accessible to the regular armed forces (FARDC) but controlled by the CNDP. On the other hand, the president, by this choice, is empowering his influence by the militaro-political audience of the CNDP party in case of an eventual contesting situation of the 2011 ballots. And in consideration of the agreement, the Congolese government will recognise and acknowledge the ranks of the war veterans of the CNDP armed branch, previously integrated into the Armed forces hierarchy of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC).

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