President Mobutu Sese Seko has ruled Zaire since 1965.
Main Political Issue
Ending the political crisis
The fundamental problem facing Zaire is how to force President Mobutu to fulfill his 1990 promise of instituting a multiparty democracy. All his actions since have made clear his intention to hang on to power at all costs. He has refused to surrender control of the treasury and security forces, or accept the High Council and its government, and has set up a puppet alternative. This has combined to create a political vacuum in which violence flourishes while the economy falls apart.
Profile
From 1965 to 1989, President Mobutu's absolute rule combined repression with astute political manipulation. In 1990, growing internal opposition and foreign pressure led him to announce moves to multiparty democracy. A National Executive Council, dominated by the Sacred Union coalition of opposition parties, was set up to negotiate a new constitution. In December 1992, it transformed itself into the High Council, a 435-member interim parliament which backed Etienne Tshisekedi as head of a transitional government. Rejecting this attack on his power, Mobutu set up his own government in 1993, headed by Faustin Birindwa. Tshisekedi has popular and international support; Mobutu controls the treasury and army.
