“The aim of this research report is to try and understand the political parties in the DRC revealing how their history, nature, structures, functioning and processes impact on democratic governance in the country. Three categories of weakness emerge through an assessment of past and present Congolese political parties, namely an absence of doctrine or ideology but rather an overriding objective to seek power for personal gain; structural deficiencies leading to internal instability within the preponderance of parties; and the survival of an ethnic mentality equating the role of party leader with that of a tribal chief. Significant evolution, however, is now apparent in comparison with parties formerly created along tribal and clan lines and the outcome of the transitional period is now, to a large extent, in the hands of political parties.”
