US embassy cable - 05KINSHASA214

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 000214 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/08/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PINS, KDEM, CG 
SUBJECT: VP BEMBA WANTS TO DISTANCE MLC FROM TRANSITIONAL 
GOVERNMENT 
 
 
Classified By: Poloff Edward Bestic for Reasons 1.4 B and D 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY:  Vice President Bemba wants to distance his 
party from the transitional government, according to a senior 
official in Bemba's party, the MLC.  The official said Bemba 
is trying to reach out to Etienne Tshisekedi's opposition 
party, the UDPS.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Bemba Envisions Difficult Balancing Act 
--------------------------------------- 
2. (C) Congo Liberation Movement (MLC) executive secretary 
Thomas Luhaka told Emboffs February 4 that MLC leader 
Jean-Pierre Bemba wants to distance his party as much as 
possible from the transitional government, because there is 
increasing public ire against the regime.  Luhaka asked 
rhetorically how the MLC could do this since it is part of 
the transitional government.  (Note:  Bemba is a vice 
president and there are several MLC ministers in the GDRC. 
End Note.)  He commented half-jokingly that many figures in 
office keep a low profile and would pass unrecognized by an 
angry public, unlike Luhaka himself, who appears regularly as 
Bemba's spokesman. 
 
Reaching out to the UDPS 
------------------------ 
3. (C) Luhaka confirmed that Bemba had asked him to establish 
contact with the opposition Union for Democracy and Social 
Progress (UDPS) party led by Etienne Tshisekedi, but noted 
that both Bemba and Tshisekedi have large egos, making any 
alliance between the two difficult at best.  In Luhaka's 
opinion, one of the UDPS' main strengths is its closeness to 
influential members of the local media who hail from the same 
region--the Kasais--that Tshisekedi does.  For example, the 
leaders of several top Kinshasa newspapers including "Le 
Potentiel," "Le Phare," and "La Tempete des Tropiques" are 
UDPS sympathizers and ensure that their papers reflect UDPS 
views.  (Comment:  This is true.  "Le Phare" and "La 
Temptete" are basically in-house organs, whereas "Le 
Potentiel" is considered less biased.  End Comment.) 
 
Keep an Eye on the Military 
--------------------------- 
4. (C) Asked what potential dangers he saw on the horizon, 
Luhaka admitted that he is focused more on managing 
day-to-day crises, but said it was important to watch 
potential frustration among the military rank and file.  For 
example, there is an ongoing dispute between Defense Minister 
Adolphe Onusumba (RCD-Goma) and military chief of staff Lt. 
Gen. Kisempia over salaries.  According to Luhaka, Kisempia 
says there are 58,000 soldiers in and around Kinshasa, all of 
whom are awaiting salaries, whereas by Onusumba's count there 
are only 28,000.  Luhaka said Onusumba commented to him that 
the Rwandans considered military funding and figures 
sacrosanct, whereas Kisempia as an ex-Zairean Armed Forces 
(FAZ) officer apparently retained the bad habits of that 
organization. 
 
 
COMMENT 
-------- 
5. (C) Distancing the MLC from the transitional government 
will be a difficult feat.  It is a significant departure from 
Bemba's initial strategy for the transition, which was to 
portray the MLC as the only serious, competent group in the 
transitional government.  END COMMENT. 
 
6. (U) Bujumbura minimize considered. 
MEECE