{"id":35195,"date":"2026-05-23T08:30:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T06:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=35195"},"modified":"2026-05-23T08:44:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T06:44:04","slug":"drc-ruling-party-unveils-pro-constitution-change-coalition-amid-growing-political-tensions","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/drc-ruling-party-unveils-pro-constitution-change-coalition-amid-growing-political-tensions\/","title":{"rendered":"DRC ruling party unveils pro-constitution change coalition amid growing political tensions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Political tensions are escalating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after the ruling party announced plans to launch a new coalition backing constitutional reform, just a day after opposition groups formed a platform to defend the country&#8217;s current Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The presidential party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress, revealed on Wednesday that it will soon launch the Coalition of Congolese for Constitutional Change (C64).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The announcement comes only 24 hours after opposition figures unveiled the C64 coalition, also known as Article 64 for the Defence of Constitutional Order, a platform aimed at resisting any attempt to amend the Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The competing initiatives highlight growing divisions over the future of the DRC&#8217;s constitutional framework. Opposition parties have been rallying support around preserving the current Constitution, arguing that it safeguards democratic principles and institutional stability.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, members of the ruling coalition have intensified public campaigns in favour of constitutional reform, saying changes are needed to address governance challenges and support the country&#8217;s long-term development.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on the issue, Jonas Tshombela, president of the New Congolese Civil Society ), said any discussion on constitutional reform should be conducted transparently and involve broad public consultation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The constitutional debate has become one of the most contentious political issues in the country, with both supporters and opponents seeking to mobilise public opinion ahead of what could become a defining national conversation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":14571,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-35195","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Political tensions are escalating in the DRC after the ruling party announced plans to launch a new coalition","published_date":"2026-05-23 08:26:37","news_description":"Political tensions are escalating in the DRC after the ruling party announced plans to launch a new coalition","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35196,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35195\/revisions\/35196"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=35195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}