The Sovereign National Conference and the Long Unfinished Political Transition in the Democratic Republic of Congo (from 1990 to Present)

Abstract

"For more than sixty years since the DR Congo gained independence, the aftermath has been characterized by the adoption of constitutional texts essentially inspired by the metropolitan model. This led one to believe that the era of democratic stability was now open. Unfortunately, this was a very short-lived moment, as authoritarianism took hold between the end of 1964 and the beginning of the 1990s with the single-party system (MPR). Political liberalization with the return of a multiparty system took place again in the 1990s following the Sovereign National Conference (CNS). After the wars of aggression and liberation of 1996-1998, the Sun-city agreement and other arrangements were signed to end the cycles of violence. These political changes have been analyzed almost exclusively through the prism of democratic transition, as have all the changes since. But in our view, these political transitions do not seem to be fading away into democratic or pluralistic regimes. We sometimes see democratic advances on the one hand, and the non-completion of the transitional process on the other. And it is this reflection that will be the subject of our analysis in this article. Keywords: independence, political transition, Africa, authoritarianism, single parties, pluralist regimes, political changes. "