DRC ELECTIONS: KABILA AND NZANGA MOBUTU FORMALIZE

UNCLAS KINSHASA 001618 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM CG ELECTIONS SUBJECT: DRC ELECTIONS: KABILA AND NZANGA MOBUTU FORMALIZE POLITICAL ALLIANCE REF: KINSHASA 1529 ¶1. (U) President Joseph Kabila and Nzanga Mobutu, sons of two bitter enemies, signed an accord October 17 in Kinshasa to ally their parties for the October 29 presidential run-off election and in the new National Assembly. Nzanga, head of the Union of Mobutuist Democrats (UDEMO),had announced his intention last month to join Kabila. He finished fourth in the July 30 presidential election with just under five percent of the vote. ¶2. (U) The accord means Kabila's Alliance for the Presidential Majority (AMP) now includes three of the top four presidential candidates from the first round. Kabila, Nzanga and Antoine Gizenga of the Unified Lumumbist Party (PALU,) accounted for nearly two-thirds of the votes cast. Gizenga, who came in third with 13 percent, officially aligned with Kabila and the AMP September 30. ¶3. (U) In announcing the alliance, Kabila and Nzanga called it a necessity for constructing a united and prosperous country based on a new political philosophy of good governance. Kabila called the AMP-UDEMO-PALU coalition an "axis of good" for the Congolese people. It adds the nine UDEMO seats to the AMP's majority in the National Assembly. ¶4. (SBU) Comment: The accord offers Nzanga a prominent position should Kabila win, and Kabila a further opportunity to bridge the so-called East-West divide of the first-round elections. It is the second challenge during the last week by the Kabila camp to Vice President Bemba's core support in western Congo. Like Bemba, Nzanga Mobutu of course has Equateur roots, and he is married to Bemba's sister. End comment. MEECE