CITING INSECURITY, OPPOSITION WALKS OUT OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 000440

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/15/2017
TAGS: PGOV KDEM KPKO CG
SUBJECT: CITING INSECURITY, OPPOSITION WALKS OUT OF
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Classified By: Poloff KRBel for reasons 1.4 b/d.


1. (U) Summary: Opposition deputies, including all members
of Jean-Pierre Bemba's Movement for the Liberation of the
Congo (MLC),walked out of the April 13 National Assembly
plenary, citing concerns for security for themselves and
party facilities. They announced that they would not return
until demands for a more secure environment were met, and
specifically condemned a late-night visit and subsequent
looting by "armed men" at the home of an MLC deputy. MLC
leaders called for return of Jean-Pierre Bemba's television
and radio stations to the air, and the removal of police from
MLC headquarters, as conditions for their return to the
Assembly. End summary.


2. (U) MLC executive secretary and deputy Thomas Luhaka said
in the National Assembly on April 13 that opposition deputies
were concerned about their security in Kinshasa, and MLC
deputies in particular. After introducing a motion to
formalize their complaints, Luhaka led a walkout of
opposition deputies from the chamber. Luhaka's motion
asserted that MLC deputy Omer Egwake was visited in the night
of April 12 - 13 by 12 armed men who appeared to be wearing
Republican Guard uniforms. After being threatened with guns,
Egwake's house was looted. The motion cited similar acts
perpetrated against East Kasai deputy Tshimanga, Kinshasa
deputies Lisanga Bonganga and Franck Diongo, Equateur
governor Jose Makila, and other MLC supporters and
sympathizers.


3. (U) In a televised debate April 14 between Luhaka and
Marko Banguli of the majority coalition Alliance for the
Presidential Majority (AMP),Luhaka set down three
preconditions for the deputies' return. First, that the
signals from Bemba-owned broadcast stations, which have been
off the air since the March violence, be restored. Second,
that control of MLC headquarters, currently occupied by
police, be returned to the party. And finally, that the
government guarantee an end to acts of intimidation and
vandalism against members of the opposition coalition Union
for the Nation.


4. (C) Key MLC parliamentarians reiterated that they are
being persecuted for membership of the opposition. MLC
deputy Delly Sesanga, who was named president of the
Assembly's key political committee last week, restated
demands that Bemba's television and radio stations be allowed
to broadcast freely and that the MLC headquarters be vacated
by police. MLC senator Jacques Djoli claimed that the
current situation "points to a nascent military
dictatorship," and called on the international community to
support consultative talks that would show that
responsibility for the March 22-23 fighting was shared.


5. (C) Comment: In principle, the walkout will not
significantly impede Assembly operations as opposition
deputies number only about 100. It will harm the Assembly's
credibility, however, especially in light of widespread
allegations that Kabila hard-liners are suppressing the
opposition. Ham-handed actions by security forces against
MLC officials are only fueling such allegations. End comment.
MEECE