The Congolese are considering a revision of the Constitution, which the opposition fears could be used by the Tshisekedi regime to extend its mandate.

President Félix Tshisekedi himself has already spoken out, saying that the Democratic Republic of Congo needs a “dignified” constitution.

In Kisangani, in the northeast region, where he visited this week, the Congolese leader announced that he would create a commission to reflect on and draft a new constitution.

“I will appoint next year a national commission which will include people from all disciplines, but who will be Congolese, to reflect and give us a constitution which will be adapted to our realities,” he declared on Wednesday.

For him, current laws do not reflect Congolese nationalism.

“This constitution is not good. It was written abroad, by foreigners. Our constitution must be based on our way of life,” he said.

The DRC’s constitution was put in place in 2006 after a referendum. At the time, President Joseph Kabila and the parliamentary majority called on the Congolese people to vote in favor of ending the cycle of accession to power through violence and establishing a democracy based on elections.

The opposition, then led by Étienne Tshisekedi, father of the current head of state, demanded its rejection. But, in 2015, when some members of the Kabila regime put forward the idea of ​​reforming it, the opposition vigorously opposed it, forcing the president to back down. Opposition leaders, including Félix Tshisekedi, suspected the president of looking for a way to cling to power.

Today, the debate is back, and the shoe is on the other foot. President Tshisekedi’s UDPS party has openly launched a campaign to reform the constitution.

At the beginning of October, Augustin Kabuya, interim president of the party and Tshisekedi’s right-hand man, affirmed that the constitution “has demonstrated its limits in the exercise of public power; it must evolve to adapt correctly to political management and the progress of Congolese society.

Until now, no one at the UDPS has officially mentioned the intention to modify the term of office or the mandate of elected officials. DRC law allows a president to serve a maximum of two terms. Tshisekedi is on his second.

The president said: “To change this, only the people can decide, not the president. »

But within the UDPS, several leaders have in the past expressed the opinion that the president actually only serves three of the five years prescribed by the Constitution. For them, the modalities of setting up a government at the start of the mandate and preparing for elections at the end of the mandate consume two years of the mandate of the head of state.

“This is not normal,” Tshisekedi said.

The Congolese leader believes that the constitution imposes too long and too numerous steps in the establishment of institutions after a new election.

“For example, I was inaugurated on January 20, 2024, but the government only took office in June,” he said, adding: “We need a constitution that will not handicap the functioning of institutions.

Although he says his intention is to give the Congolese a constitution that will last forever, the opposition believes Tshisekedi simply wants to stay in power.

Olivier Kamitatu, spokesperson for opposition leader Moïse Katumbi, said the real objective of amending the constitution is to “allow Félix Tshisekedi and his clan to retain power for life and continue to lead the Congo.”

Katumbi pledged to oppose any changes to the laws.

“This law will not be changed,” he said.

The other opposition leader, Martin Fayulu, vowed to “block the road”.

“I will be there with the people. I will stand in the way of Mr. Tshisekedi, just as I did with Kabila. We will prevent Tshisekedi from tampering with our constitution,” he declared.

Fayulu rejects the idea that the Constitution prevents institutions from functioning properly.

“Cite me a single article of the constitution that prevents Tshisekedi from working,” he said.

The Catholic Church, through its bishops, also “advises” this practice.

“This issue could destabilize the country, especially in the current context, where the country is not stable,” declared Mgr Donatien Nshole, secretary general of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo.

The cleric criticized “today’s politician, who only favors his own interests.”

The opposition is unanimous in rejecting any revision of the constitution and within the ruling majority, no one knows how the parties around Félix Tshisekedi will react.