The 2023 presidential elections, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, may be postponed, due to the various situations in the socio-political context that that country has been experiencing, since before Tshisekedi came to power in 2019, when he replaced Joseph Kabila, in an election. troubled.
The finding is from analysts of the site Africa Intelligencewho mentions in a recent article that in the Democratic Republic of Congo “there are many promises of investment, but few concrete results”.
Meanwhile, with the presidential elections scheduled for next year, Tshisekedi’s achievements during his first term are considered unimpressive, namely in terms of infrastructure and improvement of the business environment.
Remember that Felix Tshisekedi came to power in the DRC, winning the 2019 presidential elections, following successive postponements of elections by the then head of state Joseph Kabila, who stayed in power for 18 years.
In order to call for elections, in addition to the international community, the Congolese people had the support of the Catholic bishops who held a peaceful demonstration in the streets of Kinshasa.
The article refers to the climate of ‘frustration’ in the USA due to the fact that it is losing position in that central African country, due to mineral resources, a market whose influence China has come to dominate.
“In addition to the already seemingly inevitable postponement of the elections, there are fears that US diplomats will interfere even more in the political process”, writes the publication.
Kinshasa is also concerned regarding the imminent arrival of the new US ambassador, Lucy Tamlyn – whose appointment remains conditional on Senate approval – to replace Mike Hammer, who has been in office since 2018. It was at Ambassador Hammer’s consulate that the United States of America they achieved rapprochement with the government of the DRC, which is why the American diplomat “almost became a secret adviser to the Congolese head of state”.
The mood of US frustration stems from the fact that Washington has realized that its strategy in the DRC has reached its limits, as Tshisekedi has failed to fight corruption, which has spread to his inner circle, and to renegotiate mining contracts with the China.
The process also adds to the considered “delicate issue of Israeli businessman Dan Gertler, the target of US sanctions”, on which President Félix Tshisekedi opted for secret negotiations. This, according to the Africa Intelligenceput some of his advisers in the crosshairs of the US government, which has not ruled out sanctions once morest them.
Hochstein’s energy diplomacy also failed to reverse the trend once morest Beijing. In addition to the cobalt that remains under China’s control, there are promises of infrastructure to be delivered until the presidential election.
In July 2022, the Chinese government’s special representative for African affairs, Xu Jinghu, was in Kinshasa, during which he met with Prime Minister Sama Lukonde Kyenge and Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Foreign Affairs, Christophe Lutundula, among other personalities.
The article ends by saying that “China is gradually getting back into the good graces of the Congolese government, which is catching up with Washington’s rivals. On economic and security issues, the Tshisekedi government seeks to strengthen cooperation with Russia.