In the DRC, Joseph Kabila counterattack after the lifting of his parliamentary immunity | EUROtoday

Lhe Friday, May 23, nearly six years after his departure from energy, Joseph Kabila spoke in a forty-five minute speech broadcast within the night on the Internet. Exceptional talking, the day after the lifting of his parliamentary immunity by the Congolese Senate, who determined it in his absence. The tone is severe, the entrance message. The former president brazenly accuses the Félix Tshisekedi regime of getting remodeled the Parliament, “temple of democracy”, in a easy “chamber of registration of the will of a single man”.

The frozen face, however the sharp verb, Kabila, now 53 years outdated, arises as a sufferer of an influence which he considers authoritarian and revenge. “Continuing to be silent would have made me pursuable before the court of history for non-assistance to more than 100 million compatriots in danger,” he mentioned, explaining the truth that he’s silence, a primary for the reason that switch of energy of January 2019.

His speech intervenes in a tense local weather. A number of hours after the choice of the Senate, two former kin had been arrested: General Pierre Banywesize, who was the top of his safety, and Martin Kabwelulu, former Minister of Mines. Arrests that his supporters take into account to be makes an attempt at intimidation, even because the beginnings of a judicial relentlessness.

For the previous president, a senator for all times, this sequence is not only a private affair: she mentioned, he mentioned, revealing an authoritarian shift on the head of the state. A warning, due to this fact, as a lot as a return to the political scene.

Kabila costs Félix Tshisekedi and her authorities

In this tackle to the nation, the previous head of state (2001-2019) additionally introduced his intention to go quickly to Goma, capital of North Kivu, whereas denying the rumors which, on April 18, already introduced his presence in a metropolis partly occupied by the rebels of the AFC/m23, supported by Rwanda. “A few days ago, in fact, following a simple rumor of the street or social networks on my alleged presence in Goma, where I will go in the coming days, as had been announced, the regime in place in Kinshasa has taken arbitrary decisions with a disconcerting lightness”, he denounced, seeing an indication of the “spectacular decline in democracy” within the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In his speech, Joseph Kabila was significantly virulent with regard to present governance, accused of getting “brought the country to the lowest”. Without ever straight appointing Félix Tshisekedi, he paints a darkish portrait of the nation’s political and social state of affairs: “While, on the institutional, political, economic and social levels, the fundamentals had been established and the country had been placed on the launch ramp, ready to take off, here we are, in record time, six years, again in the square, that of a failed, disintegrated state, implosion, and registered prominently at the list of the most corrupt and very indebted poor countries. »»

To support his remarks, he quotes reports from the United Nations Security Council, those on the human development index, or even international poverty classifications. By way of conclusion, the former head of state called for a “patriotic begin”, proposing a “nationwide restoration pact” in 12 points, including “the tip of the dictatorship”, “the judgment of the struggle” or even “the restoration of nationwide unity”.

This discourse already arouses numerous reactions in the Congolese political arena as well as among members of civil society, in the context of a multidimensional crisis.

For Ithiel Batumike, researcher at the Ebuteli, a Congolese research institute on politics, governance and violence, this speaking has been carefully thought out. “It is a partial discourse, with exclusive charge against the government and reconciling vis-à-vis the AFC/m23. It looks like a consistent copy of his rostrum of a few months ago in a South African media, “he mentioned. The researcher deplores that Joseph Kabila focuses extra on the political disaster than on the seriousness of the safety disaster. “For Kabila, the absolute priority is to end the dictatorship and not to the war, which comes second in its 12 proposals,” he observes.

However, this political offensive comes up in opposition to the present weak point of the opposition, unable to successfully mobilize residents to represent an actual counterweight to the facility in place. A priority grows as to the likelihood that this political confrontation degenerates into an open army battle. Because, in his speech, the previous president and army, repeatedly remembers his oath, suggesting the hardly veiled risk of firmer resistance. Ithiel Batumike thus warns that this speech is prone to strengthen the accusations already weighing on Joseph Kabila.

He additionally makes the commentary that, confronted with Félix Tshisekedi, the peaceable opposition largely misplaced his means to mobilize the folks. “Besides, the regime in place rejects all calls for dialogue of the non-armed forces of opposition and churches,” he remembers.

A turning level with the lifting of parliamentary immunity from Joseph Kabila

The confrontation took a brand new activate May 22. That day, in an environment tense within the Senate, the higher room of the Parliament has taken a decisive stage. On the agenda was a delicate decision introduced by the particular fee chaired by Christophe Lutundula, in response to the indictment of the overall auditor on the High Military Court, who requested the lifting of the parliamentary immunity of Joseph Kabila and the authorization to prosecute the previous president.

The Senate verdict was last. Out of 96 senators current, 88 voted for the lifting of immunity, or 91.66 % of the vote. The vote additionally recorded 5 votes in opposition to (5.2 %), three zero bulletins (3.12 %) and no abstention. This one opens the best way to authorized proceedings in opposition to the one who reigned over the Democratic Republic of Congo for nearly 20 years, propelling the nation into an unprecedented and extremely flammable political sequence.

For months, suspicions have been accumulating on the supposed relations between Joseph Kabila and the armed teams working within the east of the nation. The accusations have gotten increasingly more exact. The president, Félix Tshisekedi, himself launched the offensive, accusing head-on: “AFC is Kabila. A declaration of incredible gravity, which directly links the former president to the Congo River Alliance (AFC), a dissident formation of the M23, held responsible for numerous abuses.

Military justice is now based on the confessions of a former adviser to the AFC chief, currently in the hands of the Congolese services, and who affirms that Joseph Kabila has actively supported the rebellion. In this context, the former president is now accused of being the co -author or the accomplice of war and betrayal crimes. A judicial thunderclap in an already busy sky.

Certain jurists, supporters of the old regime or simple observers, wonder: does Kabila not benefit from immunity for life as a former head of state? “It’s not that straightforward, replied Ithiel Batumike, a Congolese Think Tank researcher. The 2018 legislation on the standing of former Presidents of the Republic grants solely prison immunity for the acts dedicated within the train of their capabilities. In different phrases, for all that comes out of the strict presidential framework, even in the course of the train of energy, the congress can carry this safety.

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But that is not all. “In this case, the alleged facts are after the end of the mandates, which completely changes the situation,” says the researcher. This signifies that the standing to be taken under consideration right here is that of a senator for all times and never that of former President of the Republic. As a end result, the process desires the Senate to arrange a particular fee answerable for listening to the overall auditor and Kabila earlier than deciding. »»

The inexperienced gentle given by the senators consecrates this rocking. And it sends a powerful sign to public opinion in addition to to the nation’s political elite: the period of untouchables could possibly be over. “The resolution to take away immunity merely remembers that each one residents are equal earlier than the legislation and that benefiting from immunity doesn’t imply to learn from impunity. Anyone could need to reply for his or her actions. A call that due to this fact permits justice to do its job, ”concludes Batumike.