DR Congo’s Prime Minister Sylvestre Ilunga resigns after censure

DR Congo’s Prime Minister, Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba, resigned on Friday, the presidency said, a move allowing President Felix Tshisekedi, backed by a new parliamentary majority, to name his own premier.

After being censured by the National Assembly on Wednesday, Ilunga, a close ally of former President Joseph Kabila whose followers have been in a power struggle with Tshisekedi, was legally forced to resign.

Lawmakers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) dismissed the PM on Wednesday night during a plenary session of parliament in Kinshasa.

The dismissal came after the majority of the legislators gave the Premier a no-confidence vote alleging his inability to manage the government.

A motion of censure against Ilunga Ilunkamba and his government was supported by the National Assembly by 367 votes to seven.

Under the constitution and internal laws of parliament, the Prime Minister boycotted the session, finding it unconstitutional.

The meeting was also boycotted by Mps, a pro-Kabila party, who also stressed that the parliamentary session had no authority to coordinate the constitutional vote.

President Félix Tshisekedi and his two new partners have yet to agree on the naming of a number of heads of major institutions following the termination of the coalition between him and former President Joseph Kabila. The role of prime minister and the leadership of the office of the National Assembly are in dispute.

Tshisekedi, who took office in January 2019, was disappointed by a coalition government with the allies of Kabila, who in the same election secured parliamentary majorities.

President Tshisekedi would be able to appoint a cabinet of his preference by controlling a majority in Parliament, after two years in which Kabila’s allies controlled the main ministries.

Tshisekedi now hopes to shape a new parliamentary majority by winning over Kabila’s coalition members.

Inputs from Africa news