From rebels to politicians: Explaining the transformation of the RCD-Goma and the MLC in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article analyses the transformation of two former Congolese rebel groups, namely the Congolese Rally for Democracy–Goma (RCD-Goma) and the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC), into political parties following the conclusion of the Second Congo War (1998–2003) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is argued that three sets of factors influenced the process of the political transformation of the RCD-Goma and the MLC. These factors related to the stabilisation process that unfolded in the country starting with the signing of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement in July 1999, the make-up and the behaviour of the rebel groups involved as well as changes in international politics, especially the advent of the Bush administration to power in the United States in January 2001, which led to increased international pressure on Rwanda and Uganda to desist from interfering in Congolese internal affairs and the strengthening of the United Nations' peace efforts in the DRC.