On Friday, the Congo lower house parliament filed a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba. Mandate Ilunga’s motion to immediately resign from his office of face the actual vote of no confidence. The resignation ushers a step to a political victory for the reigning Congo president, Felix Tshisekedi. President Tshisekedi has had a rough time in executing his Agendas to his country as president. This is attributed to the dominance of former president Kabila in the parliament. Tshisekedi won the presidency of Congo, where he was later forced into a coalition with Kabila, which didn’t work in his favor.
Tshisekedi attempts to win over the Parliament.
Drawing back to day one of 2021, Tshisekedi started making moves to break the unsuccessful coalition with Kabila. A coalition that largely hinders his operations against addressing armed violence in the Mineral-rich east of Congo. Moreover, his efforts to reform the judiciary as well have been hard to meet. In fact, this agenda brought grave misunderstanding between Kabila`s supporters, including the Prime Minister and Tshisekedi.
As a result, Tshisekedi began rounding up Kabila`s supporters and convince them other ways. He thus formed his party named Sacred Union to support his efforts. On December 10th, the Congo lower house voted in a new speaker, eliminating the then speaker, a Kabila supporter. This was the beginning of Tshisekedi`s plan to rearrange the parliament.
The fate of Congo Prime Minister
The presented motion of no confidence against Ilunga accompanied a total of 300 signatures. A number that surpasses a fifty percent ration, since the members sum up to 500 members. The prime Minister is now counting a deadline of 48hrs from when the motion was presented. This time is to allow him time to step down from his official duties.
According to Lawmaker Mr. Okende, there is no resistance so far concerning the move. He further affirms that most of the national assembly members are in favor of the agenda. Although, Tshisekedi`s Sacred Union is yet to gain many parliament members to take over. Ilunga`s departure serves as a milestone towards Tshisekedi`s victory in the parliament.
Tshisekedi`s restored governance
With Ilunga out of office, Tshisekedi’s vision to achieve a parliamentary member majority is in sight. In the event, he will now be able to nominate a cabinet suited to his liking. Moreover, he will able to access international funding, which he couldn’t access. This is because he will also set up a new central bank board that gives him the go-ahead to seek international donors’ assistance. Additionally, Tshisekedi will also be able to appoint the head of the electoral commission. However, some political analysts view this stance as a political takeover rather than change.
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