DRC: Tshisekedi moves towards a new Constitution and a third term

The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Félix Tshisekedi, has promulgated a law paving the way for a change in the Constitution, amid tensions with the opposition which accuses him of maneuvering to remain in power for a third term.

The text broadens the conditions for organizing a referendum on a constitutional revision or the adoption of a new constitution. It was promulgated by an ordinance read on national television (RTNC) on Tuesday night.

Félix Tshisekedi, 63, has been in power since 2019 and will reach the end of his second and final term at the end of 2028, according to the current Constitution which limits terms to two five-year periods. A constitutional revision or amendment could allow him to run for a third term.

During a rare press conference in May, the president had declared: "If the people want me to have a third term, I will accept it."

Opposition-led demonstrations to protest "a constitutional coup" took place in June and September in the capital, Kinshasa, and in several other major cities across the country.

Having emerged weakened and fragmented from the 2023 presidential election, which was won by a landslide by Mr. Tshisekedi, the opposition, recently united in a platform called C64, is nevertheless struggling to massively mobilize the streets.

The rallies have also frequently been marred by clashes and almost systematically dispersed by security forces. The United Nations reported "at least one death" in Kinshasa in June, and the opposition denounced the "assassination" of an opposition member in September.

Mr. Tshisekedi announced in mid-July the organization of a "national dialogue", but the main opposition parties have so far refused to participate.

- "Tyranny" -

In the war-torn east of the country, former president Joseph Kabila, who took the helm of the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN, ex-M23) political-military movement, denounced in October Kinshasa's "stubbornness" in wanting to change the Constitution and promised to "end the tyranny by all means, including force."

Eastern DRC has been torn apart by conflict for over 30 years. The resource-rich region, bordering Rwanda, has been plagued since late 2021 by the resurgence of the anti-government armed group M23, supported by Kigali and its army.

In early 2025, the M23, which already controlled large swathes of territory in the Congolese provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, seized the major cities of Goma and Bukavu following a large-scale offensive. The front has since stabilized somewhat, and several mediation efforts are underway, but none have yet brought an end to the fighting.

For months, the DRC had accused Joseph Kabila of "collaborating" with the rebels. In late September 2025, the country's military court sentenced the former president (2001-2019) to death for treason. Mr. Kabila, 55, is also subject to US sanctions for his "financial and political support" for the M23.

Several diplomatic sources and observers have expressed concern that political dissent will now be equated with support for the rebellion, and that this will lead to a wave of arrests of opponents in the country.

At the end of October, the Council of State announced the dissolution of Joseph Kabila's political party, the PPRD, which still enjoyed some influence in part of the political class and in some provinces, but within which defections have recently accumulated.

The opposition platform C64 condemned "any seizure of power by force of arms" as well as "any change to the Constitution, any third term, any postponement of the elections scheduled for 2028".