DRC ELECTIONS: MLC POST-ELECTION PRIORITIES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001679 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/31/2016 TAGS: PGOV KDEM CG ELECTIONS SUBJECT: DRC ELECTIONS: MLC POST-ELECTION PRIORITIES REF: A. KINSHASA 1669 ¶B. KINSHASA 1478 Classified By: PolOff CBrown, reasons 1.4 b/d. ¶1. (C) Summary: Senior officials of Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba's Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) party said before the October 29 election that a Bemba-led government would work closely with President Kabila's PPRD. They say the immediate focus would be on reform of the security sector and public administration. They are less clear about what policies the party would champion if it ends up in opposition. End summary. ¶2. (C) Two senior advisers to Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba told PolCouns and PolOff prior to October 29 elections (ref A) that a possible Bemba government would include current supporters of President Joseph Kabila. They also outlined possible policy priorities of a Bemba presidency and how the MLC might approach a role in opposition. -------------- MLC "COALITION" GOVERNMENT -------------- ¶3. (C) Delly Sesanga, spokesman for Bemba's Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC),stated that a Bemba government would be a coalition with the Kabila-affiliated People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD),and would seek Kabila's advice on governing the country. Sesanga said an MLC government would select ministers in a non-partisan manner based on ability, implying that a Kabila government would not. ¶4. (C) Thomas Luhaka, MLC Executive Secretary, said that a Bemba government would govern by consensus. He predicted that in the event of a Bemba victory, members of Kabila's Alliance for the Presidential Majority (AMP) in the National Assembly would move naturally to the MLC side. He said all parties are in agreement on the basic tasks and objectives of the new government. -------------- POLICY PRIORITIES -------------- ¶5. (C) These conversations made clear that the MLC has not developed a set of standard talking points about a future Bemba government. However, Sesanga and Luhaka both singled out reform of the security services and of public administration as priorities. ¶6. (C) Luhaka emphasized that reform of the army (FARDC) and police (PNC) must be addressed within the first few months of a Bemba government. He said Bemba would make security sector reform his first order of business if elected. Sesanga said the main priority would be accelerating the integration process for both forces. Sesanga said the most important elements of the reform would be payment, supply and training of troops. He stated that a Bemba government would seek additional financial support from the international community to accelerate this. ¶7. (C) Sesanga and Luhaka both noted that an MLC government would stress reform of public administration. Sesanga also said a Bemba government would support decentralization by ensuring that the new provincial governments received the funds due them under the new constitution. Luhaka stressed that any new government must increase its receipts in order to provide public services effectively, and stated that regardless of the MLC's status and who wins the presidency, the new government must adhere to principles of good governance. He emphasized reform of DRC parastatal corporations. He also suggested the importance of symbolic gestures by the new government, and proposed an initiative for rehabilitating many of its buildings as an easily-accomplished step in that direction. -------------- MLC IN OPPOSITION -------------- ¶8. (C) Neither Sesanga nor Luhaka was able effectively to articulate issues their party would champion if Kabila wins the presidency and his supporters control the National Assembly. Sesanga said he believed Kabila's AMP would attempt to block any opposition proposals in the National Assembly. KINSHASA 00001679 002 OF 002 Luhaka said AMP leaders running the Assembly's provisional bureau have successfully excluded the MLC and other rivals from leadership roles in setting the new parliament's internal procedures. Luhaka predicted that such tactics would ultimately backfire, and provide the MLC and its Union for the Nation (UN) coalition the opportunity to advance their own agenda, even in opposition. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (C) Comment: Claims that a Bemba government would work in coalition with the PPRD are consistent with a statement made by Bemba himself to the Ambassador (ref B). However, it does not appear that he and his inner circle have focused much of their energies to date on post-election policy questions. It is doubtful that their PPRD counterparts have either. End comment. MEECE