In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD), founded and led by former President Joseph Kabila, celebrated its return to the political scene with great emphasis on the 23rd anniversary of its founding. After losing the 2018 presidential elections and boycotting those of 2023, the PPRD spent six years in opposition, during which it also experienced some internal defections. However, on April 7, 2025, in Kinshasa, hundreds of militants gathered with yellow flags and scarves to demonstrate the continued support for the party’s political line.
The PPRD’s political return comes at a delicate moment for the country, marked by the persistent crisis in the eastern part of the DRC and growing political tensions. Joseph Kabila, although still living abroad, recently broke his media silence to harshly criticize the security management of current President Félix Tshisekedi. During the event, PPRD leaders rejected any accusations of collusion with the M23 armed group, instead emphasizing their commitment to a “political and non-violent resistance,” claiming a nationalist identity.
The party’s permanent secretary, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, launched a harsh attack on the regime, denouncing the danger to the rule of law and contesting the presidential initiative of consultations for the formation of a national unity government.
According to Shadary, such consultations would be useless, given that Tshisekedi already has an overwhelming parliamentary majority with over 400 deputies out of 500 and 90 senators out of 108, and won the last presidential election with 73.34% of the votes.
While rejecting the current consultations, the PPRD declares itself open to an inclusive dialogue with all opposition forces and with the government, provided that this takes place on new and shared bases.
