The Congo: Tshombe's Election Campaign

As the head of a "government of public welfare," Moise Tshombe has ruled for eight months without the weight of a Parliament around his neck. What with the rebels in the northeast, nearly half the nation under a state of emergency, and much of the rest crippled by anarchy, he would probably be happy to continue governing by decree indefinitely. But African public opinion demands the trappings of democracy, and under the elaborate constitution drawn up last year, Tshombe must call elections before April 1. This week, barely two weeks before the deadline, they begin.

Conference in Luluabourg. Like a...

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