Anatomy of a break-up in the Democratic Republic of Congo: The collapse of the FCC-CACH majority and why it matters

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article looks at the first three years of DRC President Felix Tshisekedi’s presidential mandate, and specifically at the period between January 2019 and August 2021. It examines the evolution of the ruling coalition between Tshisekedi’s Coalition pour le Changement (CACH) and former President Joseph Kabila’s Front Commun pour le Congo (FCC), which emerged from the contested 2018 presidential election in the DRC. In doing so it traces the gradual breakdown of relations between the ruling alliance partners and takes a step-by-step look at how Tshisekedi managed ultimately to break up the FCC’s parliamentary majority, paving the way for the formation of a new majority which supports him. In doing so the article will examine the legal aspects of the different steps taken towards the break-up of the ruling coalition and the parliamentary majority and examine the implications of the process for the DRC’s political future.