There are 267 registered political parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The great majority are insignificant. The parties that do matter due to their following, financial resources or military power are Joseph Kabila’s PPRD, Ruberwa’s RDC-Goma and Bemba’s MLC, all three of whom are in the transitional government, and Tshisekedi’s UDPS.

A transitional government has been in power since the middle of 2003. It comprises the former Kabila government, four rebel groups, several opposition parties and representatives from civil society. An overview of the parties that are currently in the interim government:


PPRD (founded in 2002)

The Parti du Peuple pour la Réconstruction et le Développement is the party represented by the current president, Joseph Kabila. It consists primarily of allies of his father, Laurent Kabila. It is one of the larger parties and controlled 60% of the country during the war. See also www.pprd.com and Site officiel du Président de la Rdc.


RCD-Goma (founded in 1998)

The Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie-Goma was once a rebel group supported by Rwanda, controlling one-third of the country. It was the most important resistance movement. In part because the party is headed by a Congolese who speaks Rwandan, many Congolese see the party as a pawn of Rwanda. Maître Azarias Ruberwa, a Tutsi, leads the party. Ruberwa is one of the four vice-presidents in the government and is responsible for security matters. He is in a difficult position, balancing the wishes of Rwanda and the hardliners in his party in the east against his responsibilities as vice-president in Kinshasa. Another important RDC-Goma politician is Eugène Serufuli, currently governor of the province of North Kivu. Formerly this party controlled one-third of the country.


MLC (founded in 1998)

The Mouvement pour la Libération du Congo is the smallest of the three major parties and was once a rebel group supported by Uganda. The founders consisted of former Mobutu followers and primarily controlled the province of Équateur in the north-west. The MLC falls under the authoritarian leadership of Jean-Pierre Bemba, who chairs the important committee of economics and finance in his capacity as vice-president. His competitor in the MLC, the skilled parliamentary chairman Olivier Kamitatu, has since left the party. See also mlcbenelux.no-ip.org (European branch).


RCD-ML and RCD-N (founded in 1999 and 2000)

These rebel movements are splinter factions that separated from the RCD-Goma and are now part of the transitional government. The Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie-Mouvement de Libération was originally allied with Uganda.

Rassemblement des Congolais Démocrates-N is led by Roger Lumbala. It was allied to the MLC and based in a small area around gold and diamond mines in Isiro and Bafwasende.

Both parties have now been largely co-opted by Kabila and in all probability no longer have any significant role to play.


Mai-Mai

A coalition of ethnic militias supported by Mr Kabila during the war. Lacking in internal coherence, it includes many defectors. See also www.congo-mai-mai.net


The political opposition

An alliance of opposition parties, some of which were founded only recently. They did provide a Vice-President. The most important opposition party, the UDPS (Union Démocratique pour la pour Progression Sociale) is not in the interim government. See also www.udps.net The same applies to PALU (Parti Lumumbiste Unifié).


Civil representation

Representatives from NGOs and religious groups temporarily participating in this interim government.

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