It has been quite an odyssey for Jean-Pierre Bemba. He went from serving as vice president of the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2003 to becoming a convicted war criminal in 2016 and sentenced to hard time by the International Criminal Court. Bemba was acquitted of war crimes last month, and his 18-year-sentence tossed out. However, Bemba spent 10 long years in The Hague-based prison before being released last month to join his family in Brussels, Belgium. Now, Bemba is set to return to his home in the DR Congo ahead of the country’s presidential elections in December 2018. Bemba announced this week he is returning to his country to submit his candidacy for president.
Bemba declares he should be sole opposition candidate to stand in DR. Congo elections, at press conference in Brussels Jul. 24, 2018.
“If you want a new regime in this country (DR Congo), we need to have unity and support one single opposition candidate,” J.P. Bemba, as reported by DW.com.
Credit: Gettyimages, John Thys / J.P. Bemba addresses international press to declare bid to stand in DR. Congo Presidential vote. Brussels, Jul. 24, 2018.
Bemba also promised to support the candidate chosen by the opposition
“If it won’t be me, I will support the candidate chosen by the opposition. That is clear,” J.P. Bemba.
Does J.P. Bemba have what it takes to unite politically fractured DR. Congo?
Credit: voanews.com / AFP / Former DR Congo V.P.-turned warlord, J.P. Bemba
Bemba has a tough challenge ahead of him in uniting the politically fractured DR. Congo. The DR Congo is in the grip of a crisis over the future of President Joseph Kabila, who has ruled the country since 2001, and remained in office despite a two-term constitutional limit that expired in December 2016. Kabila has promised to step down and hold scheduled elections December 2018, but many remain skeptical elections will take place.
“The current government in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is engaging in atrocity-like behavior,” former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Herman J. Cohen wrote. “The DRC nation is in the midst of a pre-electoral constitutional crisis. Jean-Pierre Bemba is the recognized political leader of the northwestern region, through his MLC political party.”
Bemba remains extremely popular in western Congo, which voted overwhelming for him in the 2006 election where Bemba finished runner-up to Joseph Kabila, the current president. In 2007, Bemba fled the country after violent clashes in Kinshasa, and was exiled in Brussels. One year later, Bemba was arrested in Brussels and handed over to the ICC war tribunal, and charged with responsibility for murder, rape and pillage committed by fighters he sent to the Central African Republic in 2002 to back then-president Ange-Felix Patasse.
The stakes are high in DR. Congo’s upcoming election
“A concerted effort by President Kabila to remain in power or significantly delay elections could provoke a major crisis in the DRC, with consequences well beyond its borders,” International Crisis Group. “A genuine transition based on a credible election is a prerequisite for stability in the DRC and the region.”
UN envoy calls for ‘a level playing field’ in key upcoming elections
“While significant progress has been made to respect the stages of the calendar process, the electoral process continues to suffer from suspicion and mistrust between the majority and the opposition, and, between the opposition and the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI),” Leila Zerrougui, the UN Special Representative for the country and head of the Stabilization Mission, MONUSCO, told the Security Council on Thursday.
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