Four months after the legislative elections and over two months after the opening of the inaugural session, the permanent bureau of the National Assembly is still not in place. According to the internal regulations of the National Assembly, the permanent bureau was supposed to be constituted within five days following the notification of the conformity decision by the Constitutional Court, rendered on Friday, April 5th, but not everyone agrees with this timeline.
According to the internal regulations of the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the permanent bureau was supposed to be constituted within five days following the notification of the conformity decision by the Constitutional Court on Friday, April 5th.
However, some MPs close to the government consider this deadline indicative, arguing that MPs must first clarify their affiliation with the majority of the opposition.
To date, the opposition only had 26 seats, but 48 new MPs were validated after the electoral dispute, potentially reshaping the political landscape of the Assembly.
Negotiations between the majority and the opposition are still pending to allocate positions within the permanent bureau, promising heated debates.
Moïse Katumbi’s camp, representing the opposition with only 23 MPs out of a total of 500, demands two seats on the bureau. Meanwhile, internal struggles within the majority are ongoing, with no decisions yet made regarding the individual ambitions of its members.
This arbitration is crucial not only for the composition of the National Assembly’s permanent bureau but also to ensure equitable representation within the future government, as political coalitions within the majority that are excluded from the Assembly’s bureau may find a place in the government.