OPENING OF DRC NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ORDINARY SESSION

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000329

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM CG AO GB
SUBJECT: OPENING OF DRC NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ORDINARY SESSION



1. (U) Summary. The DRC National Assembly's first ordinary session
opened March 15. Initial priority items on the three-month agenda
include final approval of the Assembly's internal rules, membership
and election of officers of its permanent committees, and final
confirmation of all deputies' mandates. Assembly leadership also
hopes to consider draft laws on decentralization, the political
opposition, the judicial system, the economic and social council and
the 2007 budget. End summary.


2. (U) The DRC National Assembly opened its first three-month
ordinary session in a ceremony at the Palais du People March 15. It
follows two special sessions, the most recent of which concluded
February 28. It was attended by 355 of the 500 deputies as well as
Prime Minister Gizenga and other ministers, members of the
diplomatic community, including the Ambassador and SRSG William
Swing, and delegations from the Gabonese and Angolan national
assemblies.


3. (U) National Assembly President Vital Kamerhe highlighted
achievements of the special session in his opening remarks. He
cited the Assembly's review and approval of the government's
five-year plan, establishment of a committee of inquiry into the
January 31-February 1 Bas-Congo violence and of an audit committee
on National Assembly properties, and consensus on dealing with the
constitutional issue of dual nationality.


4. (U) He also detailed parliamentary diplomacy undertaken by the
Assembly and its officers. Kamerhe led delegations to the
France-Africa Summit in Cannes and to the inauguration of Catholic
Archbishop Marcel Mabila in Kananga in February, an information
science conference in Rome and meetings hosted by Spanish
counterparts in Madrid in March. The Assembly also hosted the
February 26-28 Great Lakes parliamentary conference.


5. (U) Kamerhe said the ordinary session agenda would give initial
priority to unfinished items from the special session: final
approval of the Assembly's internal rules, membership of its
permanent committees and election of officers, and confirmation of
the mandates of all deputies. He stated that the Assembly also
plans to consider laws on decentralization, the political
opposition, the judicial system, the economic and social council and
the 2007 budget.


6. (U) Gabonese National Assembly President Guy Zuba was loudly
applauded when he introduced some members of his delegation as "from
the opposition." Following the applause, he said, "now I can
identify where the opposition sits in this chamber," to general
laughter. Angolan National Assembly First Vice-President Joao
Lourenco also addressed the session, but as he spoke in Portuguese
and there was no interpreter present his message was heard but not
received.


7. (U) Comment. Once again, Kamerhe acquitted himself well. The
ceremony began only a few minutes late (due only to the tardiness of
the Angolan delegation),and his speech was well received. That
said, Kamerhe and others in the Assembly leadership acknowledge that
not all agenda items can possibly be addressed in a 90-day session.
Setting priorities will therefore be all the more important. End
comment.

MEECE