KAMITATU DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM MLC/GOVERNMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001956 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2015 TAGS: PGOV KDEM KCOR CG SUBJECT: KAMITATU DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM MLC/GOVERNMENT REF: A. KINSHASA 01893 ¶B. KINSHASA 01926 Classified By: PolOff TJNaber, reasons 1.4 b/d. ¶1. (SBU) Olivier Kamitatu, President of the National Assembly and Secretary General of the MLC party, along with 45 MLC senators and deputies from all provinces, delivered a letter on November 26 asking MLC founder and DRC Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba for a more democratic party. In it, the MLC parliamentarians denounced current politicians and called for a new group of leaders sincerely interested in the development of the country and well-being of the population. According to some press accounts, Bemba and those MLC members not signing the document view Kamitatu as a traitor to Bemba and the party for trying to gain the Prime Ministership under an alliance with Pierre Pay Pay and former MLC minister Jose Endundo. (Reftel A) ¶2. (C) Only last week, Kamitatu distanced himself from the government with his public criticism of the cabinet re-shuffle of November 18. (Reftel B) He pointed out that not one of the nine ministers called before the Parliament in the last month to answer to charges of mismanagement lost their jobs in the re-shuffle. He accused the Transition Government of ignoring the "objective conclusions" of the Parliament about these ministers and of continuing to operate on a quota system in the face of bad governance and reported overspending by ministries. ¶3. (C) Comment: Kamitatu's criticism about the cabinet re-shuffle was disingenuous since the transitional framework sets out that the various factions choose who will head the ministries they have been allotted. Kamitatu of course knows this, and President Kabila made the point publicly after being widely criticized after the re-shuffle. Kamitatu is clearly trying to burnish his anti-corruption credentials, while distancing himself from other transition leaders, before elections. In that respect, his public calls for good governance and new leadership make political sense. End comment. DOUGHERTY