DRC: the Constitutional Court invalidated 43 deputies elected in December and replaced them

DRC: the Constitutional Court invalidated 43 deputies elected in December and replaced them

The Congolese Constitutional Court on Tuesday invalidated 43 of the 477 deputies elected during the legislative elections at the end of last December, thus freezing the composition of the National Assembly and modifying the balance of power between several political parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in benefit of the present party, the UDPS; the Kinshasa press reported on Wednesday.

Sitting in the disputes of the national legislative elections, the Court rehabilitated 49 national deputies who had seized, as required by the procedure, the High Court to contest the provisional results of January 14, as proclaimed by the Office of the Electoral Commission independent national (Céni).

“Out of 1,123 requests filed, investigated and argued, there are 21 cases of withdrawal, 525 cases declared inadmissible and 400 cases admissible but unfounded. Only 43 cases were deemed admissible and well-founded,” declared the president of the Constitutional Court, Dieudonné Kamuleta, at the end of the hearing, according to the Congolese press agency (ACP, official).

Among the MPs who were successful in their appeal include the resigning Minister of the Portfolio, Adèle Kayinda Mayina, the former Minister of Tourism, Modero Nsimba Matondo, as well as the resigning Minister in charge of Infrastructure and Public Works, Alexis Gisaro .

The governor of the province of Tshopo (northeast of the DRC), Véronique Nikomba Sabangu, was drafted by the High Court and is thus definitively elected national deputy of Kisangani under the judgment rendered on Tuesday.

Two members of the “age office” of the National Assembly (which provisionally manages the functioning of the lower house of the Congolese parliament) proclaimed by the Ceni were invalidated by the Constitutional Court. They are Serge Bahati (the son of the resigning president of the Senate, Modeste Bahati Lukwebo) and Moïse Matembo, elected respectively from Kabare, in South Kivu (east) and Lubudi, in Lualaba (south).

Bahati main loser

This unique judgment of the Court also modifies the balance of power between several political parties belonging to the Sacred Union of the Nation (USN), won by re-elected President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo.

With at least five additional seats, the presidential party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), confirms its position as the main majority force. He could claim the post of Prime Minister. Even after losing four seats, the Union for the Congolese Nation (UNC) of outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Vital Kamerhe Lwa Kanyiginyi Nkingi retains its second place within the majority. This is enough to claim the presidency of the National Assembly, believe several of its executives who have difficulty digesting the loss of seats, according to Radio France Internationale (RFI).

The biggest loser is Modeste Bahati whose grouping, the Alliance of Democratic Forces of Congo (AFDC-A), lost six seats from its initial 35 seats, losing its third position. The same observation applies to the AB50 block of the resigning Minister of Industry Julien Paluku Kahongya, who was stripped of three seats.

The opposition, however, remains in the minority with less than thirty seats out of the 477 filled at this stage.

Twenty-three of the 500 seats remain to be filled in subsequent elections in constituencies where results were annulled due to fraud, as well as in the territories of Masisi and Rutshuru in the east of the country, where elections were unsuccessful. not been organized.

These two territories of North Kivu have been in the grip of a conflict since the end of 2021 which pits the M23 rebellion, supported by units of the Rwandan army, against the FARDC (Armed Forces of the DRC) associated with armed groups, auxiliaries Burundian and two foreign military companies.

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