© AFP PHOTO/ Caroline Thirion
Jean-Marc Kabund (right), January 20, 2019 (illustrative image).
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the noose is tightening around Jean-Marc Kabund, the interim leader of the presidential party, the UDPS. Last night Kabund was removed from his post and expelled from the party following announcing two weeks ago the resignation of the vice-president of the National Assembly without the consent of the party. This resignation, he had announced it himself on social networks, but two weeks later, he still has not formalized it.
With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Pascal Mulegwa
To do without Jean-Marc Kabund, the party’s disciplinary body did not lack arguments. Several grievances were brought once morest the man who was considered essential in the regime: fraud by the sale of cards, act of corruption and extortion in appointments to state posts. The party leader is also dismissed for his physical violence, sometimes verbal once morest party activists.
It is therefore now the executive board, a kind of crisis committee, which manages the UDPS in a collegial way, pending internal consultations coordinated with President Tshisekedi.
As the days pass, support for Kabund is becoming increasingly rare now. This Sunday, January 30, no relative or executive of the party defended him in the media.
And even if he has still not formalized his resignation from the National Assembly, announced on Twitter two weeks ago, his succession is being prepared:
UDPS officials say that if he does not resign before the return to parliament scheduled for March, he will be ousted by a motion of no confidence.
