Can a military regime coexist with an elected Parliament? Four months ago, when General Joseph Mobutu overthrew the Congo's perennially squabbling civilian government, he gave coexistence a try. Announcing that the nation would be under military rule for five years, Mobutu nevertheless allowed Parliament to stay open to approve his decrees and constitutional amendments.
It was a worthy enough experiment, but it never got off the ground. Parliament immediately went into a long recess, and when it finally reconvened last month, an angry Mobutu all but put it out of business.
"My disillusions have been great," the general told the assembled legislators....
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