The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a country that has never known a peaceful transition of power. And the Presidential elections of 2018 that are due in December show no signs of a reversal of this unfortunate disposition. While Joseph Kabila’s candidature may have been ruled out, it is evident that his replacement, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, will merely be a proxy candidate, with real power still vesting in the hands of Kabila.
Emmanuel Shadary is a Kabila loyalist and has previously served as the interior minister of the country. He is under the European Union (EU) sanctions for his involvement in alleged human rights abuses.
His main opponent Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former warlord and vice-president, too, has a tainted history. He returned to the DRC last week after being acquitted of war crimes by the international criminal court. However, Shadary has no major following of his own while Bemba enjoys a strong supporter base.
Another heavyweight candidate is Félix Tshisekedi, son of one of the DRC’s most well-known opposition politicians.
According to a recent poll by the Congo Research Group at New York University, Bemba, Katumbi and Tshisekedi would enjoy a roughly equal support – between 17% and 19%, while Kabila will see the least support at about 9%.
