RUSAGARA MUVUNANKIKO Valens
In a scathing press conference held in Kinshasa on May 8, 2026, opposition leader Martin Fayulu launched a frontal assault on the current administration, accusing President Félix Tshisekedi of orchestrating a “constitutional coup d’état.”
Fayulu’s outrage centers on a new referendum bill introduced by MP Paul Gaspard Ngondankoy, which the opposition leader characterizes as a deceptive legal vehicle designed to allow Tshisekedi to bypass constitutional term limits and seek a third mandate in 2028.
Fayulu highlighted what he describes as a “flagrant contradiction” within the proposed legislation. While Article 6 of the bill claims to uphold the intangibility of Articles 218 to 220 the “locked” provisions of the DRC Constitution that protect term limits Articles 87 to 90 allegedly introduce a loophole.
Fayulu argues these articles create a mechanism to circumvent those very protections under the pretext of a “major state dysfunction.” He labeled this a “backdoor” strategy that cannot be legitimized by any parliamentary majority or popular referendum.
The President of Engagement pour la Citoyenneté et le Développement (ECiDé) also took aim at the President’s recent public statements from May 6, suggesting they confirm a desire to cling to power at any cost.
Fayulu went as far as to question the political utility of the ongoing conflict in the eastern DRC, wondering aloud if the war is being instrumentalized to justify a future delay of the 2028 general elections. “To whom does this war profit?” he asked, pointing toward the administration’s potential motives.
Invoking the legacy of the January 2015 mass protests that thwarted previous attempts to tinker with electoral laws, Fayulu called on the Congolese people and current deputies to reject the “incriminated” text.
He demanded the immediate removal of Articles 87 to 90 and insisted that the promoters of the law be held legally accountable. In a stern final warning, Fayulu declared that the son of the legendary Étienne Tshisekedi must not enter history as the man who destroyed national cohesion, vowing that the people will ensure the President leaves office in 2028 “whether he likes it or not.”
