Reforms and early elections. This is what Martin Fayulu demanded on Saturday August 22 when he returned to DR Congo where tensions erupted a few months ago within the ruling coalition.

The unsuccessful presidential candidate of December 2018 was greeted by several thousand people at the airport. The crowd was such that he had to walk, for more than five hours, the seven kilometers that separated him from the place where he chaired a public meeting.

"Our current agenda is to make reforms and go to early elections. The crisis is there, nothing is going within their coalition where everyone wants to have their constitutional court, everyone wants to have their electoral commission to defraud", declared Martin Fayulu in front of a crowd won over to his cause.

President Félix Tshisekedi leads the DRC in coalition with the political forces of his predecessor Joseph Kabila, united in the Common Front for Congo (FCC) platform.

Since March 2020, the ruling coalition has been confronted with persistent tensions linked in particular to the reform within the judiciary and the appointment of new leaders of the electoral commission.

In July, demonstrations were organized to denounce the endorsement by the National Assembly of a new chairman of the Electoral Commission, Ronsard Malonda, accused of being close to former President Kabila.

"The people must take their responsibilities"

"I do not approve of what has just happened in Mali, but I say that at some point the people must take their responsibilities. Me, I took mine," said Martin Fayulu, alluding to the neutralization of Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita by the army.

"If nothing is done on the road to reforms, in the coming weeks, we will all take up residence at the People's Palace", he continued, paying tribute to the Congolese Nobel peace prize, Dr Denis Mukwege, "who fights for the integrity of the territory".

In the presidential election of December 2018, Martin Fayulu claimed victory with more than 60% of the vote. The Independent National Electoral Commission (Céni) then the Constitutional Court had proclaimed Felix Tshisekedi the winner of the ballot with 38.5% of the vote and Martin Fayulu second with 34%. The latter accused the Ceni of having "fabricated" the results and denounced an "electoral putsch" orchestrated by ex-President Joseph Kabila.

With AFP

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