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Zaire POLITICAL REFORM IN THE 1990s
Proclamation of the Third Republic
On April 24, 1990, President Mobutu Sese Seko announced
to the
citizens of Zaire that the country was entering a new era.
Henceforth, that date would rank as a milestone, along
with June
30, 1960 (independence day) and November 24, 1965
(inauguration of
the Second Republic). The new era was to be one of
multiparty
government, replacing the single-party system that had
been in
place for twenty-three years.
This major reform, which would usher in the Third
Republic, was
presented as the product of Mobutu's personal initiative.
In an
exercise in direct democracy or "popular consultation," he
had gone
to the people and sought their views on the functioning of
political institutions. Mobutu claimed that 5,310 of the
6,128
memoranda received, or 87 percent, proposed retaining the
singleparty status of the MPR, with some administrative and
organizational changes, such as reductions in the number
and size
of party agencies and the recruitment of new staff. Only
13 percent
of respondents called for a multiparty system. But, he
said, after
much reflection he had decided to go beyond the wishes
expressed by
the majority of the Zairian people. Thus, he had opted to
experiment with political pluralism, establishing a system
of three
political parties, including the MPR. Each citizen would
be free to
adhere to the political formation of his choice. Mobutu
cautioned,
however, that the new multiparty system would have to
avoid the
errors of the past, namely allowing multipartyism to
become
synonymous with multitribalism.
Mobutu claimed that the Zairian people had demanded
that he
continue to preside over the destiny of the country in a
broad
sense. He would serve as chief of state and as such would
ostensibly be above both the political parties and
government
organs, functioning as the final arbiter or last resort.
Because he
would be above the parties, Mobutu indicated that he was
resigning
that very day as head of the MPR, permitting that party to
choose
for itself a new leader to carry out the changes necessary
to its
new role. (Nevertheless, following his 1990 resignation,
Mobutu
accepted the leadership of the MPR once again on April 21,
1991.)
All these changes would require a transitional period
of twelve
months. According to Mobutu, the deliberative bodies, from
the
national legislature down to the collectivity councils,
had been
judged satisfactory by respondents and would remain in
place until
the next elections. However, the National Executive
Council (also
called the Council of Ministers), or cabinet, was
considered to
have resigned. A caretaker prime minister would be named,
and this
person would put together a transition team.
When Mobutu announced the transition to the Third
Republic, he
also dealt with several superficial but highly charged
aspects of
the aftermath of
authenticity
(see Glossary). Zaire's
political
vocabulary would be changed, and Zairians would be free to
return
to the more universal forms of address. Moreover, while
the
abacost
(see Glossary) would remain the national
dress and
his personal choice, Zairians would be free to choose to
wear a
suit and tie. The ambiguities of the measures of 1990 were
illustrated by the fact that members of the transitional
government, sworn in two weeks later, all were dressed in
the
abacost or its feminine equivalent.
The whole exercise--the three-month "popular
consultation" and
the speech that summarized the results--was vintage
Mobutu. In a
masterful ploy, he cut the ground from beneath the feet of
those
opposition groups--the UDPS at home as well as some of the
groups
operating from exile--whose demands centered on political
reform.
He exempted himself and the directly elected deliberative
bodies
from the condemnation expressed by the people via their
memoranda.
He placed the burden for dealing with Zaire's enormous
social and
economic problems on the back of the new cabinet, which he
would
not head. At no time did he assume responsibility for the
country's
problems, nor did he acknowledge that his great initiative
was
really largely a reaction to external events and
pressures. He made
no mention of the fact that democratization has been a
major demand
of Western creditors, and that many other African states
either had
opted for multiparty systems or appeared to be about to do
so,
partly in response to the same international pressures.
Mobutu's apparent jettisoning of the party-state,
ushering in
the Third Republic, was a surprise move, the implications
and
implementation of which were far from clear. It remained
to be seen
how much Mobutu's personalistic regime would really
change. In
fact, within ten days Mobutu was already backpedaling.
Data as of December 1993
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