Democratic Republic of Congo: Political Transition and beyond

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Periodical article

Title:	Democratic Republic of Congo: Political Transition and beyond
Author:	Reyntjens, Filip
Year:	2007
Periodical:	African Affairs: The Journal of the Royal African Society
Volume:	106
Issue:	423
Period:	April
Pages:	307-317
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Congo (Democratic Republic of)
Subjects:	political change 1990-1999 2000-2009 Politics and Government
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/4496443
Abstract:	This article surveys the political transition in the Democratic Republic of Congo since April 1990, when President Mobutu announced the end of single party rule and the opening of Zaire to democracy. Though Mobutu remained President, the announcement heralded the end of Mobutism and the beginning of a long, failed, transition. The article deals with the rebellion launched by Laurent Kabila in 1996; the emergence of a coalition which toppled the Mobutu regime in 1997; Kabila's presidency and his death in 2001; his succession by Joseph Kabila; the Inter-Congolese Dialogue which led, in 2002, to the Global and Inclusive Act on the Transition (Acte global et inclusif sur la transition en République démocratique du Congo, AGI), and the 2006 elections. The article concludes that the DRC has virtually ceased to exist as a State. Reconstructing a polity that can perform even minimal State functions will therefore be an essential condition for both national development and regional stability. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]