DRC: after Augustin Matata Ponyo, what other candidates for the 2023 presidential election?
DRC President Félix Tshisekedi has already announced that he will stand for re-election.
Here, in Kinshasa on February 20, 2022. © Arsène Mpiana / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
While the National Assembly continues its debates on electoral reforms, politicians are mobilizing for the presidential election in the Democratic Republic of Congo at the end of 2023. If the former Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo became the first declared candidate on Monday May 2, this should force others to get started: President Félix Tshisekedi and opponent Martin Fayulu will be in the race, while Moïse Katumbi may also be there.
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With our correspondent in Kinshasa,
Patient Ligodi
Side party in power, no suspense.
Félix Tshisekedi will seek a new mandate: he said it several times during meetings, but also in the media at home or abroad.
He feels that he has been handicapped by his alliance with his predecessor Joseph Kabila, and that he needs time to fulfill his promises.
The other candidacy that is beyond the shadow of a doubt is that of
Martin Fayulu
.
The leader of ECIDE, who still claims victory in the previous presidential election of 2018, is not losing his temper and hopes, say his relatives, "
that he will no longer be robbed of the election
".
As for the possible candidates, it is difficult to decide on what
Vital Kamerhe
will do , whose troubles with the law continue.
Jean-Pierre Bemba's designs are also unclear at this stage.
His candidacy was rejected by the Constitutional Court in 2018 because of his conviction for witness tampering pronounced by the International Criminal Court.
Until then, the leader of the MLC has been discreet on the issue.
Moïse Katumbi remains an ally of Félix Tshisekedi, but his relatives announce his candidacy.
His party has been officially formed and is in the process of establishing itself in the country.
The candidacy of Augustin Matata Ponyo, the former Prime Minister of the DRC, should "
force the others to clarify their position
", estimates Trésor Kibangula, analyst at Ebuteli, the Congolese Institute for Research on Politics, Governance and violence, and research partner of the GEC in the DRC.
DRC: "Augustin Matata Ponyo's candidacy will force the others to clarify their position", according to Trésor Kibangula, analyst at Ebuteli
Francois Mazet
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ground floor
Felix Tshisekedi