DRC: Second Republic: 1965 - 1990

Updated June 2005

Following the takeover Mobutu abolished the office of prime minister in 1966 and took all executive power into his own hands. He centralised state control by reorganising the provinces, reducing their number and transforming them into purely administrative structures. The provincial governors were appointed by and answerable directly to him (Library of Congress 1993a, Answers.com 2005).

In 1966 Mobutu founded the Mouvement Populaire de la Revolution (MPR) as a vehicle of his rule; all other parties were banned and legislative power was consolidated in his hands. Mobutuism was proclaimed as the official ideology of state, which mixed nationalism with economic pragmatism and downplayed ethnic identity in favour of a striving for authenticity of Africanism. This ideology provided the justification for the replacement of European place and personal names with African ones, as well as for the suppression of all ethnic organisations (Library of Congress 1993b).

Mobutu used a combination of cooption through patronage and ruthless suppression to neutralise and eliminate opposition, using the courts to execute judicial murders. Nevertheless resistance to his rule continued. In July 1966 Katangan troops who had been instrumental in suppressing the rebellion of 1964, and who occupied Kisangani on behalf of the government, themselves rebelled. It was two moths before the rebellion was repressed with the help of foreign mercenaries (Institute for Security Studies 2005).

On a more concrete level the MPR was shaped to penetrate not only all levels and organs of state, but all civil society structures as well. Student and youth groups, trade unions and women's organisations were subordinated to MPR structures. The quasi-religious expression of Mobutuist ideology and its practical efforts at penetrating and subordinating religious organisations and institutions brought the MPR into conflict with the churches, and especially the Catholic Church. After some wrangling with the Vatican government rhetoric was toned down and some schools returned to the Church (Library of Congress 1993c).

In July 1967 a second mutiny erupted in Kisangani that was quickly and efficiently suppressed. In 1970 the MPR was declared the sole legitimate party, and the following year Mobutu was elected President unopposed. Candidates for legislative elections were exclusively selected from the structures of MPR (Answers.com 2005, Library of Congress 1993c).

In 1973 far reaching expropriations of foreign businesses were made and they were transferred to Congolese nationals. Thus nationalism was used as a means to create new opportunities for distributing patronage and cementing the loyalties of key functionaries to Mobutu. This redistribution of wealth provoked protest and unrest amongst the population at large. To mute criticism it was announced that all these enterprises would revert to the state, and that they would be sold off to worthy buyers with the state pocketing the proceeds (Library of Congress 1993c).

The economic consequences of "Zaïrianization" (as these property transfers were called) were disastrous. Operations of most business ground to a halt due to lack of expertise and many workers lost their jobs. Entire commercial networks collapsed and critical shortages emerged in many markets for goods and services and prices soared. Assets were stripped and machinery and equipment sold off (Library of Congress 1993c).

To cope with the inflation created by this looting spree price controls were instituted which in turn led to hoarding and the emergence of a substantial black market. State reprimands of the "sons of the soil" who had profited from the transfers were equally ineffectual. Regardless of all this the government moved to target the large Belgian concerns for nationalisation (Library of Congress 1993c).

Following the constitutional review of 1974 the merger of the MPR the State was completed. Legislative elections were held in November 1975. The electoral process consisted of assembling the electorate, without prior registration, in public places where candidates were presented and elected for a five-year term through acclamation (Answers.com 2005). Gregory Mtembu-Salter (2002, 235) observes:

The Constitution was amended so that the government, the legislature and the judiciary all became institutions of the MPR, and all citizens became party members".

By late 1975 the full effects of economic decline and social misery wrought by Zaïrianization were evident and it was clear that the policy was a total failure. The effects of the policies had been compounded by the 1974 general slump in commodity prices leading to a decline in export earnings. Simultaneously a sharp rise in the price of oil resulted in a rise in import and production costs. Expropriated foreign businesses owners were offered a return of 60% of equity if they would restart their enterprises again, but few were willing to do so (Library of Congress 1993d).

Mobutu's military ventures in Angola in support of the FNLA against the MPLA in 1974 were economically expensive and the crushing defeat suffered by the national army at the hands of the Cubans brought its effectiveness into question. This sense of the state's weakness, combined with the widespread economic pain experienced in virtually every sector and level of society, led to renewed unrest in the country. Riots and student demonstrations were complemented by insurgent invasions (Library of Congress 1993e).

In March 1977 Front Libération Nationale du Congo (FNLC) troops invaded Shaba (formerly Katanga) Province from Angola. After a poor performance by the national army the revolt was suppressed only with the aid of Moroccan and French troops. The brutality of the government troops, on reoccupying the province, provoked a mass exodus of refugees to northern Angola, providing a new pool of recruits for the retreating FNLC (Library of Congress 1993e, Answers.com 2005).

Presidential and parliamentary elections, during which the principle of a secret ballot was restored and the scrutiny of MPR structures over MP candidates was made less restrictive, were organized in 1977. Mobutu was re-elected president unchallenged once more; he was the only contender who could possible comply with the absurd criteria he laid down for candidates.

In May 1978 the FNLC reinvaded Shaba and once more the government troops put up little resistance. The FNLC advanced rapidly, but the discipline of the FNLC troops was no better than that of the government's troops. Law and order broke down totally as they and their civilian camp-followers went on a murder and looting spree. Once more Mobutu had to rely on foreign (French and Belgian) aid to suppress the rebellion. Once more large numbers of civilians joined with the retreating FNLC (Library of Congress 1993e, Answers.com 2005).

The 1982 legislative elections were different from previous ones in that more than one candidate was allowed to stand for any particular seat. The candidates had to be approved by the MPR structures after thorough scrutiny. The measure of public dissatisfaction with the government was indicated by the unseating of 75% of incumbent MPs in these elections. Mobutu was once more re-elected president, still without any opposition, in July 1984 (Country Watch 1998).

In November 1984 and again in 1985 short-lived FNLC guerrilla occupations of Moba in Shaba took place. The last parliamentary elections of the Mobutu era took place in September 1987.

In February 1989 student demonstrations occurred in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi which resulted in violent clashes with armed police. In 1989 the country defaulted on a loan from Belgium, resulting in the cancellation of development programs and increased deterioration of the economy (Mthembu-Salter 2002, Answers.com 2005).

The Third Republic was proclaimed by Mobutu in April 1990. He stood down as president and as leader of the MPR. The single-party system was abolished, a transitional government announced and an undertaking made to hold multiparty elections the following year (Answers.com 2005).

References

ANSWERS.COM 2005 "Democratic Republic of the Congo", [www] http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery;jsessionid=16o66sa9kiwtz?tname=congo-country- zaire&curtab=2222_1&hl=congo&hl=country&hl=zaire&sbid=lc02a [opens new window] (accessed 10 Mar 2010).

COUNTRY WATCH 1998 "Country Information for the Congo (DRC)", [www] http://www.countrywatch.com/country_profile.aspx?vcountry=40 [opens new window] (accessed 10 Mar 2010).

INSTITUTE FOR SECURITY STUDIES 2005 "Democratic Republic of Congo: History and Politics", [www] http://www.iss.co.za/AF/profiles/DRCongo/Politics.html (offline10 Mar 2010).

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 1993a "Toward political reconstruction" IN Country Studies, [www] http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+zr0041) [opens new window] (accessed 10 Mar 2010).

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 1993b "The quest for legitimacy" IN Country Studies, [www] http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+zr0042) [opens new window] (accessed 10 Mar 2010).

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 1993c "The expansion of state authority" IN Country Studies, [www] http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+zr0043) [opens new window] (accessed 10 Mar 2010).

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 1993d "Zairianization, radicalization, and retrocession" IN Country Studies, [www] http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+zr0044) [opens new window] (accessed 10 Mar 2010).

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 1993e "External threats to regime stability" IN Country Studies, [www] http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+zr0045) [opens new window] (accessed 10 Mar 2010).

MTHEMBU-SALTER, G 2002 "Recent History", IN Murison, K (ed), Africa South of the Sahara 2002, Europa Publications.