Parliament on tenterhooks: Raucus debate over some provisions in electoral bill

A raucus debate erupted Wednesday in Parliament over some provisions of the new electoral bill introduced by the Interior Ministry and amended by a parliamentary committee. The particular point of contention was the provision that raises the bar of eligibility of MPs to 10% of votes in the revised system of voting by proportional representation.

It was the contention of some MPs that the article is yet another attempt by the majority to sideline the opposion in the upcoming election. But it also happened that many MPs of the ruling majority refused to follow their party shibboleth and joined the minority in opposing the provision. Oftentimes this kind of unnatural alliances between MPs of opposing sides happens in the National Assembly, leastwise when deputies' survival or interests are at stake. This happened 5 years ago when the MPs gave themselves a whopping salary of $6,000 a month in a country where the minimum wage is of less than $30 a month!

Self-proclaimed "independent" MP Yves Kisombe, an MLC defector who now caucuses with the majority, was copiously booed when he attempted to speak up in support of the scary provision.

The hypocrisy of the MPs was evident in the way they didn't even see fit to debate some of the blatantly undemocratic provisions the bill contains, such as:

1) The prerequisite of holding a university degree in order to be a candidate; a criterion that would disqualify many female politicians; or

2) The requirement of paying taxes for the last 2 years.

In point of fact, the MPs are  merely in the process of ensuring their reelection and of bolting all accesses in the elite class of politicians to which they are are privileged to belong.

If anything, the debate in Parliament is a bit too gimmicky to fool the vigilant  Radio-Trottoir pundits who see it as yet another installment in the long-running series of Congolaiseries.