DR Congo's main opposition leader, Etienne Tshisekedi has died in
Brussels at the age of 84, sources reported Wednesday.
According to UN-backed Radio Okapi, the opposition icon left Congo on
January 24 for a medical check-up in Belgium, the mineral-rich Central
African's former colonial master. The historic heavyweight had made a
triumphant return to Kinshasa in July last year after two years of medical
treatment in Brussels.
The opposition leader who founded the Union for Democracy and Social
Progress (UDPS) party in the country in 1982(then Zaire) was supposed to head a
National Transition council with a prime minister to be named from opposition
ranks under a deal to pave the way for President Joseph Kabila’s exit at the
end of this year according to a deal reached last December.
The cause of his death has not been divulged as neither family nor his
political party has officially commented on that, but Radio France
Internationale (RFI) said “the Old Man”, as Tshisekedi is affectionately known
among his political allies died from a pulmonary embolism.
His death deprives the opposition of its principal figurehead as talks
over implementation of the December accord falter. His son, Felix, who recently
became a prominent political figure and headed the coalition of opposition
parties known as the Rassemblement is tipped to be named prime minister in a
forthcoming power-sharing government.
Elected president
Joseph Kabila who took over the reign of the chronically unstable DR
Congo in 2001 was re-elected for a second mandate in 2011, but showed no signs
of wanting to relinquish power after his reign expired in December 2016 despite
being constitutionally barred from seeking a third term.
Tshisekedi unsuccessfully fought the 2011 presidential poll against
Kabila but supporters of the opposition supremo referred to him as the
"elected president" of the vote which was allegedly marked by massive
fraud.
Another opposition leader in the country, Moise Katumbi has been
sentenced to a three-year term in prison in an alleged case of property fraud
and faces another trial in an alleged case of mercenary recruitment.
Observers fear Kabila may tinker the constitution before the end of 2017
and scrap the two years presidential term limits in the country.
By Ndi Eugene Ndi in Yaounde
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