Kinshasa – Hopes are growing for progress in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s national dialogue after the opposition group C64 announced the suspension of a protest march that had been scheduled for 22 July.
In a statement issued on 20 July, the five members of the C64 said they had decided to postpone the demonstration in response to an appeal by Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, Archbishop of Kinshasa and representative of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo , and by the Rev. André Bokundoa, President of the Church of Christ in the Congo , the country’s largest Protestant organization. The two Church leaders had called for the march to be postponed in order to create a climate conducive to dialogue.
Since 18 July, CENCO and the ECC have launched a series of consultations with political parties, institutional representatives and other civil society actors aimed at fostering a genuinely inclusive dialogue. Their initiative is based on the conviction that neither military action nor institutional measures alone can secure lasting peace without a broadly shared political agreement.
The Churches’ mediation follows the appeal made on 17 July by President Félix Tshisekedi for the organization of an “inclusive, peaceful and republican national dialogue,” after meeting with the country’s main religious denominations .
The C64 group has nevertheless given the authorities until 15 August to formally convene the inclusive national dialogue announced by President Tshisekedi.
The C64 Coalition for the Defence of the Constitutional Order is an opposition platform officially launched on 19 May with the stated aim of defending the constitutional framework established under the 2006 Constitution and preventing any amendment that could allow President Félix Tshisekedi to seek a third term or postpone elections scheduled to take place by 2028 . The coalition takes its name from Article 64 of the Constitution, which states that every Congolese citizen has the duty to oppose any seizure or exercise of power in violation of the Fundamental Charter.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to face insecurity in the provinces of North and South Kivu, where local and foreign armed groups remain active, while the country’s political landscape remains deeply polarized. In this context, President Tshisekedi has relaunched the idea of an inclusive national dialogue, with the declared objective of bringing together political forces, civil society and institutional representatives to discuss the country’s priorities and strengthen national cohesion.
However, two key political actors have refused to join the national dialogue: the Congo River Alliance , the political wing of the M23 rebel movement, which controls large areas of eastern DR Congo, and the political platform Sauvons le Congo, established in Nairobi and led by former President Joseph Kabila. The latter has criticized the initiative launched by Kinshasa, arguing that the current political conditions do not allow for a credible national dialogue.
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