Mr Felix Tshisekedi. FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
The leader of the opposition in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, Mr Felix Tshisekedi, returned to Kinshasa
on Sunday just as police arrested some of his supporters during a
demonstration.
Mr Tshisekedi landed at the Ndjili airport around midday after a trip to Europe, a member of his team said.
He was to travel on to his
residence in Kinshasa's Limete neighbourhood, where earlier Sunday four
opposition activists were arrested by police using teargas to break up
an unauthorised demonstration.
"We picked up three or four people
who did not obey police orders. They will be set free," national police
spokesman Pierrot Mwanamputu told AFP.
Planned demonstration
Mr Tshisekedi is the son — and
successor in the opposition movement — of Etienne Tshisekedi, a
longtime leading opponent of President Joseph Kabila. He died in
February in Belgium, aged 84.
Kinshasa police had said Saturday
that they were banning Sunday's planned demonstration of the opposition
coalition, saying they feared violent clashes.
The opposition parties have called
for President Kabila to step down. The president's second term ended in
December 2016 and the constitution bars him from standing for
re-election.
Continuing violence
The country's authorities, which
have yet to fix a date for the next election, promised on Thursday to
quickly publish a "realistic" electoral timetable.
The political instability in the vast country of 70 million has raised international concerns.
One of the main obstacles to
organising elections is the continuing violence in the central,
diamond-rich Kasai region, where a rebellion has been going on for a
year now, the electoral commission chief said last month.
Both the government and rebels are accused of atrocities in Kasai.
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