The Democratic Republic of Congo recently witnessed the launch of a new political grouping, Réveil Populaire (REPOP), which aims to support President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo and his political program. REPOP was created by several political parties and independent figures, including Cause Commune, Alliance for a New Congo, Union Populaire Républicaine and Les Congolais.
Claude Ibalanky Ekolomba, president of REPOP, said in a press conference that their objective was to create a political and societal force capable of allowing the group to achieve an electoral victory. He also clarified that REPOP was determined to give President Tshisekedi a second term in the next presidential elections.
Ibalanky added that REPOP supports President Tshisekedi’s efforts in good governance, poverty reduction and sustainable development. In addition, he undertook to constitute a pure and coherent majority in the various ballots.
It is important to point out that Claude Ibalanky Ekolomba is an itinerant ambassador of the Head of State and serves as coordinator of the Monitoring Mechanism of the Addis Ababa Framework Agreement. Finally, Ibalanky is also special adviser to Félix Tshisekedi when he was president of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS).
In short, REPOP can represent a new political offer to the Congolese population, in support of President Tshisekedi. Nevertheless, we will have to wait to see how the political grouping evolves in the coming months to know if it can really achieve its political objectives.