Will the DRC’s ‘sacred union’ deliver electoral reform?

With a new majority in Parliament, President Tshisekedi must reform the electoral system ahead of the 2023 polls.

The so-called ‘sacred union’ (union sacrée) coalition decreed by Democratic Republic of the Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has shifted the balance of power in his favour, at least for now. The crucial question is whether he will seize the moment and take advantage of the sacred union to reform the country’s electoral system and improve security ahead of the 2023 election.

About the author

Dr David Zounmenou is a Senior Research Consultant for the ISS. From 2014 to 2020, he served as expert and coordinator for United Nations (UN) groups of experts in Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia and the DRC, monitoring the implementation of UN sanctions. Before that he was an ISS senior research fellow and lecturer on African politics and international relations at the Walter Sisulu University of Science and Technology in Eastern Cape, South Africa. Zounmenou has a PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.