Joseph Kabila was sworn into the presidency of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DROC; Country Profile) on December 6, 2006. He represents the first democratically elected president in 46 years. The presidential campaign was plagued with violence and controversy (WAR Report and WAR Report); however, his opponent conceding defeat in October, and Kabila has gotten off to a surprisingly smooth start in achieving peace in his war-torn country. Kabila?s win could symbolize a domino effect for democracy in Africa.
On December 30, 2006, Kabila announced his country?s prime minister, Antoine Gizenga, a former leader of opposition socialist party Unified Lumumbist Party (Palu) who came in third in the first round of the election in July 2006. Gizenga?s nomination was widely anticipated, as he had entered an agreement with Kabila to withdraw his campaign in exchange for a Palu member named as the prime minister.
Gizenga was deputy prime minister under Patrice Lumbumba, his party?s namesake, who was assassinated in 1961. Gizenga, then, led a rebel movement of loyalists in the northeast after Mobutu Sese Seko?s coup d?etat and a shadow government while he was exiled for nearly 30 years. He is also a computer technician, which may foreshadow growth in DROC?s high tech interests, capabilities, and priorities.
Gizenga, whose party refused to participate in Seko?s kleptocracy and therefore held no parliamentary posts, is now charged with forming the DROC?s ministerial government. He has delayed the selection process, awaiting the transitional government?s physical departure from office space. The President and Prime Minister men will need to overcome their historical political opposition, and Kabila?s Presidential Majority Alliance (AMP) will need to accept Gizenga?s nomination, an easier task should Gizenga propose seven AMPs to fill the National Assembly Bureau. In an attempt to ensure ?adequate geographic representation? and to avoid an east-west split, Gilbert Tshongo from Western Kasai province in central DROC?and others like him–is likely among the cabinet candidates.
The UN-supported elections were meant as a fresh beginning for the DROC, which concluded a civil war in 2003 and was dealing with residual humanitarian crises in the aftermath of the war. 2007 could get the DROC off to a fresh and stabilizing start should they begin to permit legitimate domestic and foreign extraction efforts of the vast mineral deposits?gold, diamonds, coltan, copper, colbalt, and bauxite–to help ameliorate civilian starvation and health concerns and to rebuild national coffers and physical infrastructure. Further, UN, EU, and US continued involvement in DROC will help ensure the country?s success, in establishing democracy and in quelling violence. Kabila must establish and train a legitimate army and police force to maintain peace. While much has been resolved, militias continue to operate in the eastern provinces, and their brutality and destabilizing ability should not be undermined.
