In Kinshasa, a proposed overhaul of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) constitution, has moved beyond the corridors of parliament and into the streets, worsening an already tense political climate and raising demand on the country’s democratic future.
President Félix Tshisekedi has defended the drive to replace or substantially change the 2006 Constitution, describing the existing document as outdated and arguing that Congolese citizens should have the right to reconsider the country’s basic law. In 2024, he said the proposed changes had “nothing to do with a third term” and insisted that a commission would examine the Constitution. But his explanatory-defence, has done little or nothing to calm the opposition and tension mounting in the DRC.
The controversy has intensified because the Constitution currently limits a president to two 5-year terms. Tshisekedi began his second term in January 2024, meaning any constitutional change that alters the rules governing presidential tenure, could have direct consequences for the 2028 election. Opposition groups are contending that the proposed overhaul could eventually open a path for Tshisekedi to seek another term. Recent protests have been organised around precisely that concern. Really, what is Tshisekedi trying to change?
Some critics think the government’s debate of this proposition is bigger than presidential tenure alone. Tshisekedi and his supporters say the Constitution needs to be adapted to Congo’s present realities, to address weaknesses in the country’s political institutions. The president has also framed constitutional reform in terms of national sovereignty, maintaining that Congolese people should be able to determine for themselves, the kind of constitutional system they want. That statement, touches a sensitive historical nerve of the DRC.
The current Constitution, emerged from the political negotiations that followed years of war and political crisis. It was approved by a referendum in December 2005 and was activated in February 2006, with the stated goal of creating a democratic political order; and giving Congolese citizens the ability to choose their leaders through elections.
So, in respect to the view of most Congolese, changing the Constitution should not just be another legal exercise, carried out in the parliament. It should be premised on the debate of the political settlement that was supposed to help the country move away from decades of conflict and authoritarian rule.
The strongest political-opposition, centres their protest on the presidential term limits. That is one of the major reasons why people plunged out to protest. A parading-perception of analysts state that even if the government presents the exercise as institutional reform, changing the constitutional framework now, could alter the rules under which the next presidential election would be organised. The opposition coalition C64, has accused Tshisekedi of using a constitutional referendum to create a route to a third term. This dispute has severely become a street-level discussion issue also.
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