Wednesday, March 23, 2005

DR Congo: Rare occurence...

One of the four Vice-Presidents of the Congo, Jean Pierre Bemba, gave an interview to HARDTalk, a news programme of the BBC. He is addressing particularly issues related to the war, and its worst manifestation in the Ituri District of the Oriental Province (DRCongo). It has recently been a rare occurence to see one of our "leaders" in Western media - a testimony to how little most people know and/or care about it in the West. Jean Pierre Bemba is not my cup of tea AT ALL, but he is by far one of the - if not the - most pragmatic members of the leadership of Congo, inheriting the juggling skills of his powers, the billionaire Jeannot Bemba Saolona. An interesting interview, and an indirect insight into the inner-workings and inside-conflicts of the government.

Here is the link to to the

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This was very interesting! To be honest the MLC is the only party I've taken really seriously (but maybe I'm biased because I know ppl there). I'm glad they were in charge of the economic branch of the govt. Finances and government spending look less out of control (but there's still a lot to do). In that respect they're more credible than other parties. I'm mean they're potentially good at what they've been assigned to do.

I'm still very distrurbed by the ex-mobutist big heads who act like they've done nothing wrong though and who are ready to do the same mistakes all over again. I'm not totally sure I'd vote for them just for that reason.

I think the journalist had some issues confused, but I mostly think Bemba needs a lesson on the implications of being a leader. He makes sense, I respect the fact that he's got principles but I'm sorry as a vice president what an ex-rebel army is doing should be his concern and his responsability too. He needs to understand that he's part of a "united" government now; And just for being at the top (along with others) he should bear responsability. That's how politics work. That's why being a leader is supposed to be very difficult and stressful 'cause you're the first one people will blame/eject when there's trouble.

Donate to The Salon

Help us continue to do this important work of promoting freedom of expression about the Congo.

https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif

Explore The Salon