The Democratic Republic of the Congo is witnessing a dangerous institutional power grab. The recent constitutional court ruling has handed President Félix Tshisekedi a decisive tool: the ability to bypass the strict two-term limit by establishing an entirely new republic. Under the pretext of «modernizing» outdated legal frameworks, authorities are systematically dismantling democratic safeguards, pushing the nation toward authoritarian rule.
Meanwhile, dissenting voices face brutal suppression. Peaceful opposition protests are met with violent police crackdowns. Arbitrary arrests of political figures and activists are escalating, while critical voices—including the unequivocal rejection from the National Episcopal Conference of the Congo (CENCO)—are summarily ignored by the administration.
As Félix Tshisekedi maneuvers to secure a third term, international partners in Kinshasa remain eerily silent, prioritizing short-term security interests over the Congolese people’s democratic aspirations. The absence of strong condemnation from Washington, Paris, and Brussels is glaring, especially when contrasted with swift reactions to unconstitutional power grabs elsewhere in Africa.
Western capitals justify their inaction by pointing to the ongoing war in eastern DRC, where M23 rebels threaten regional stability. Viewing Tshisekedi as a fragile bulwark against total collapse in the Great Lakes region, foreign governments tolerate his constitutional violations in exchange for access to critical minerals essential for the global energy transition.
This calculation is not just flawed—it is historically reckless. Forcing through a constitutional referendum while rebel groups control swathes of eastern provinces would disenfranchise millions of Congolese citizens. Conducting such a vote in a warzone risks formalizing the de facto partition of the DRC.
The United Nations, European Union, and African Union have failed the Congolese people by refusing to send a clear diplomatic signal against Tshisekedi’s third-term bid. Their silence sends a dangerous message: democratic norms can be violated if a regime aligns with geopolitical convenience.
For the Congolese people, their future cannot be held hostage by one man’s ambition or the cynicism of foreign powers. If the international community continues to overlook the warnings from civil society and the urgent appeals from the Catholic and Protestant churches, it will share responsibility for the political instability and potential Sudanization threatening to engulf the DRC. There is still time to break the silence, uphold the sacred terms of the Congolese Constitution, and demand an immediate halt to this disguised dictatorial transition.
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