Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KINSHASA1508
2006-09-28 13:35:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Kinshasa
Cable title:  

UDPS SHOWS PUBLIC SPLIT OVER POSSIBLE ALLIANCE

Tags:  PGOV KDEM CG ELECTIONS 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHKI #1508 2711335
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 281335Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4866
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
UNCLAS KINSHASA 001508 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM CG ELECTIONS
SUBJECT: UDPS SHOWS PUBLIC SPLIT OVER POSSIBLE ALLIANCE
WITH BEMBA

REF: KINSHASA 1505

UNCLAS KINSHASA 001508

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM CG ELECTIONS
SUBJECT: UDPS SHOWS PUBLIC SPLIT OVER POSSIBLE ALLIANCE
WITH BEMBA

REF: KINSHASA 1505


1. (U) Summary. Infighting among members of DR Congo's Union
for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) party spilled over
into the public September 26 when several members issued a
communique supporting the presidential candidacy of Vice
President Jean-Pierre Bemba. Bemba's Movement for the
Liberation of Congo (MLC) party is attempting to portray the
action as evidence of UDPS support. Party founder Etienne
Tshisekedi remains silent. End summary.

SIPDIS


2. (U) Two UDPS members announced September 26 that the party
would support Vice President Bemba in the second round of DR
Congo's presidential elections October 29. According to UDPS
members present at the announcement, Zephyrin Diayikwa and
Raymond Mukoka signed a statement on behalf of the College of
Founders, a party consultative body. It was not signed by
UDPS president and longtime Congolese opposition politician
Etienne Tshisekedi.


3. (U) The announcement did not take place at UDPS
headquarters, but at Mukoka's residence in the Gombe
neighborhood of Kinshasa. UDPS spokesman Jean-Baptiste
Bomanza and two members of the party's National Committee,
Gaston Dyndo and Emmanuel Kwakenda, were also in attendance.
UDPS speakers charged that senior UDPS officials Valentin
Mubake and Remy Masamba were "rebels" for releasing an
earlier communique (reftel) disavowing UDPS support for
either presidential candidate.


4. (SBU) The College of Founders functions as a "moral
authority" for the party, but is not empowered to take action
or speak for it. This role is reserved for the UDPS National
Committee or the national secretariat, which are led by
Mubake and Masamba. They also have greater access to
Tshisekedi.

SIPDIS


5. (SBU) Francois Muamba, secretary-general of Bemba's MLC
party, appeared on state-controlled RTNC later that evening
with a document he claimed was signed by the UDPS College of
Founders and which granted the party's support to Bemba.
Although Muamba did not say who had signed the document, he
was presumably referring to the Diayikwa-Mukoku communique.


6. (SBU) Muamba's declaration of UDPS support may stem from
his personal connections to the party and Tshisekedi. Before
joining the MLC, Muamba's was one of the UDPS's spokesmen in
Europe. Muamba is also a native Kasaian, born in the same
region of Eastern Kasai province as Tshisekedi. Muamba is
also related by marriage to the UDPS leader, who advised his
supporters to vote for Muamba in the July 30 legislative
elections. Muamba won his district with nearly 97 percent of
the votes cast.


7. (SBU) Comment: Tshisekedi has said nothing publicly. The
MLC would like to make it look as if Bemba has UDPS support,
but until Tshisekedi signs or says something, anything anyone
else claims is moot. The shared conclusion of the usually
hardline Mubake and the moderate Masamba that the UDPS is
endorsing neither candidate looks to be a more accurate
signpost of the current reality inside the party. The
Diayikwa-Mukoku communique only serves to underline the
growing public profile of its fragmentation. End comment.
MEECE