DRC president bows to opposition pressure over constitutional reform
DRC president bows to opposition pressure over constitutional reform
On Thursday, August 13, against the backdrop of escalating tensions with the Article 64 Coalition (C64)—a platform launched in May by the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) leading opposition parties—President Félix Tshisekedi requested parliamentary reconsideration of the law governing the conditions for organizing a referendum on constitutional reform.
The coalition has consistently argued that the proposed reform, championed by the ruling party since 2024, is a maneuver to enable Tshisekedi to seek a third term, which the 2006 Constitution explicitly prohibits.
The day prior, in Kinshasa, Dieudonné Bolengetenge, Secretary-General of Moïse Katumbi’s Ensemble pour la République and a C64 spokesperson, warned that the coalition would “no longer heed calls for restraint” and would escalate mobilizations unless the president took decisive steps to initiate a national dialogue.
The coalition had designated August 15 as a deadline to assess progress in the political dialogue initiated by the president, while urging citizens to “mobilize and resist” if the controversial referendum proposal currently under parliamentary review was not withdrawn, as reported in May.
A cautious concession
While Tshisekedi’s move falls short of the coalition’s full demands, Prince Epenge, co-founder of C64, described it as “a small step in the right direction.” The coalition has nonetheless vowed to maintain pressure.
Initially scheduled for July 22, a Kinshasa march organized by C64 was postponed following appeals from the country’s Catholic and Protestant churches, which urged political actors to prioritize dialogue over confrontation.
In addition to C64, 65 Congolese civil society organizations submitted a memorandum to President Tshisekedi and national institutions on August 10, urging him to abandon the referendum. They cautioned that such an initiative could “further inflame political tensions, deepen social divisions, and divert attention from the nation’s true priorities.”