The new Leader of the Opposition is not afraid of President Kabila

Martin Fayulu, a social-liberal businessman, was named this weekend as a candidate for joint opposition parties in Congo. His appointment is surprising and guarantees that during elections in Congo next month there will be real competition.

Discussions between the few opposition candidates took place in Geneva, as one of the candidates, Moïse Katumbi, had been wanted by the Congolese police. The organization of the late Kofi Annan facilitated the meeting.

Seated Congolese President Joseph Kabila had counted on a divided opposition hoping to win the election as easily. Although he could no longer attend after two terms, he pushed his minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary forward. Shadary has virtually no support and will likely remain the leader of Kabila. In addition, the EU imposed sanctions on him for human rights violations when, as Interior Minister, he ordered the police to fire on Kabila against human rights abuses. unarmed demonstrators. Since then, the electoral register has been falsified and the government has bought unreliable machines in South Korea for counting. Everything indicated that the fraud would determine the result in order to maintain the power of the clique around Kabila. The opposition is now putting a damper on Kabila by proposing a promising candidate.

In the private sector

Fayulu is a technocrat of a small party advocating social liberalism. For much of his life (at 61), he worked in the private sector as the head of Mobil Oil in several African countries. He was born in Kinshasa and was elected in 2006 as a delegate from the capital to the national parliament. He became better known for his actions against Kabila. He led the way in demonstrations against the president, did not run away when police fired on protesters and was injured several times.

The opposition fears fraud. That's why Fayulu has always said that his party would not participate if South Korean voting machines were used, a request rejected by Kabila. Obviously, the opposition politicians have decided to participate, but Fayulu, if he wins, will become acting president, who will have to organize new elections in better conditions.

According to polls, Felix Tshisekedi had the best chances in a fair election. Shadary got about 16% in this poll. According to the same poll, opposition candidates would collectively get seventy percent of the vote.

The government candidate's campaign team, Shadary, has 500 people, including many ministers, and has access to the public treasury. The question now is whether Fayulu can raise enough money to run an effective election campaign and launch the group around Kabila.