National Assembly: MP Jaynet Kabila designated as committee chairwoman amid Opposition outcry

Monday, June 4, was the 41st birthday of twin siblings Joseph Kabila,

President of the DRC, and Jaynet Kabila, unaffiliated national

MP--though she caucuses with her brother's Presidential Majority (PM).





Coincidentally, Monday also happened to be the day Speaker Aubin

Minaku had to introduce the new members of the Committee of the Wise

in a string of so-called "consensus" in-house moves aimed at

enhancing women's representation in the National Assembly.





As a matter of fact, a consensus had already emerged among leaders of

parliamentary caucuses that MP Jaynet Kabila will be the Chairwoman of

the Committee of the Wise.





But Opposition MP Albert-Fabrice Puela took to the floor with an

incidental motion contesting that the designation of the chair of that

committee should be determined by consensus.





It should rather go through a vote, MP Puela argued, according to

Article 43 of the Rules and Regulations of the National Assembly, and

not in closed-door meetings by presidents of parliamentary caucuses.





Without mentioning MP Jaynet Kabila by name, MP Puela further argued

that the basic "criterion of experience," as suggested in the rules

and regulations, wasn't "respected" in this case.





MP Puela therefore demanded that the chairmanship of the Committee of

the Wise be put to a vote by the plenary session.





(Many in the presidential majority accuses MP Puela of having an axe

to grind. In 2010, he was kicked out of MP Olivier Kamitatu's party

ARC [Alliance pour le Renouveau du Congo] for his out-of-control

ambition: he wanted to run for president!)





According to parliamentary rules, two MPs had to speak in support of

the incidental motion, and two others against it.





Amidst jeers and heckling by MPs from the majority, opposition MP (and

erstwhile impeached governor of Equateur Province) José Makila went

for the jugular.





He passionately claimed that Speaker Minaku was a serial violator of

the rules and regulations, and charged that he ought to show the

necessary "intellectual probity" of acknowledging his "missteps"

instead of dashing to an up-and-down vote on the motion of MP Puela.





Speaking for the majority, MP Emmanuel Ramazani Shadari argued that MP

Puela was making a step backward, for the plenary session had

previously decided to have a woman chair the Committe of the Wise, in

an attempt at achieving a semblance of gender parity in positions of

leadership in the National Assembly.





Opposition MP Emery Ukundji warned Speaker Aubin that his repeated

violations of the rules and regulations risk tarnishing the image of

the "temple of democracy" that the National Assembly is striving to

achieve.





Then, after a backbencher from the majority had forcefully argued that

there were no objective criteria for determining the wisdom or the

experience of an MP, the incidental motion of MP Puela was put to a

vote--and soundly defeated.





Following the vote, Speaker Minaku then introduced Chairwoman Jaynet

Kabila and the members of her Committee of the Wise.





A nice birthday present indeed...





The Committee of the Wise works as a mix of ombundsman and ethical

commission for MPs.