According to a statement from the presidency, Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, the prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, resigned on Tuesday, leading to the breakup of his cabinet.
Eight days after his nomination as a national deputy was confirmed, Lukonde submitted his resignation to President Felix Tshisekedi. After winning a seat in the assembly for the Kasenga district in the nation’s December elections, he intends to enter the parliament.
Serving ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are required by law to be non-parliamentarians, which implies that one must decide whether to continue as a legislator or to resign in order to continue in government.
The presidency added in a second statement on Tuesday that it had urged Lukonde’s administration to stay in power until a new government was formed.
In February 2021, at the age of forty-three, Lukonde was named prime minister when the coalition led by former president Joseph Kabila and Tshisekedi broke up.
Tshisekedi appointed a delegate to find a majority alliance in the National Assembly with the intention of creating his new government when he was re-elected in December.
The Constitutional Court must ratify the preliminary results, which show that Tshisekedi’s supporters secured about 94% of the assembly’s seats.
(Africanews)
