The Congolese are considering a revision of the Constitution, which the opposition fears could be used by the Tshisekedi regime to extend its mandate.

President Felix Tshisekedi himself has already weighed in, saying the Democratic Republic of Congo needs a “dignified” constitution.

In Kisangani, in the northeastern region he visited this week, the Congolese leader told the public he would set up a commission to reflect on and draft a new constitution.

“I will appoint a national commission next year, which will include people from all disciplines, but who will be Congolese, to reflect and give us a constitution that is adapted to our realities,” he said on Wednesday.

For him, the current laws do not reflect Congolese nationalism.

“This constitution is not good. It was drawn up abroad, by foreigners. Our constitution must be based on our way of life,” he said.

The DRC constitution was implemented in 2006 after a referendum. At the time, President Joseph Kabila and the parliamentary majority called on the Congolese people to vote to end the cycle of violent rise to power and establish a democracy based on elections.

The opposition, then led by Étienne Tshisekedi, the father of the current head of state, demanded its rejection. But in 2015, when certain members of the Kabila regime advanced the idea of ​​reforming it, the opposition vigorously opposed it, forcing the President to step down. Opposition leaders, including Félix Tshisekedi, suspected the president was looking for a way to hang on to power.

Now, the debate is back, and the shoe is on the other foot. President Tshisekedi’s UDPS party has openly launched a campaign to reform the constitution.

In early October, Augustin Kabuya, the party’s acting president and Tshisekedi’s right-hand man, said the constitution had “demonstrated its limitations in the exercise of public power; it must evolve to be properly adapted to the political management and progress of Congolese society.”

So far, no one from the UDPS has officially spoken about the intention to change term limits or the mandate of elected officials. DRC law allows a president to serve a maximum of two terms. Tshisekedi is second.

The president said: “To change this, only the people can decide, not the president.”

But within the UDPS, several leaders have expressed their opinion in the past that, in fact, the president only serves three of the five years stipulated in the constitution. For them, the arrangements for forming a government at the beginning of a term and preparing for elections at the end of a term consume two years of the head of state’s term.

“It’s not normal,” Tshisekedi said.

The Congolese leader believes that the constitution imposes too many and long stages in the establishment of institutions after new elections.

“For example, I was inaugurated on January 20, 2024, but the government only took office in June,” he said, adding: “We need a constitution that does not handicap the functioning of institutions.”

Although he claims that his intention is to give the Congolese a constitution that will last forever, the opposition believes that Tshisekedi simply wants to stay in power.

Olivier Kamitatu, a spokesman for opposition leader Moïse Katumbi, said the real purpose of changing the constitution was “to allow Félix Tshisekedi and his clan to retain power for life and continue to rule Congo.”

Katumbi has vowed to oppose any changes to the laws.

“This law will not be changed,” he said.

The other opposition supremo, Martin Fayulu, vowed to “block the road”.

“I will be there with the people. I will stand in the way of Mr. Tshisekedi, just like I did with Kabila. We will stop Tshisekedi from touching our constitution,” he said.

Fayulu rejects the idea that the constitution prevents institutions from functioning properly.

“Cite me a single article in the constitution that prevents Tshisekedi from working,” he said.

The Catholic Church, through its bishops, also “advises” it.

“This issue could destabilize the country, especially in the current context, where the country is not stable,” said Monsignor Donatien Nshole, Secretary General of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo.

The cleric criticized “today’s politician, who only favors his own interests”.

The opposition is unanimous in rejecting any revision of the constitution and within the ruling majority, no one knows how the parties around Félix Tshisekedi will react.