The Democratic Republic of Congo's new health minister is JEAN BAPTISTE SONDJI, a leader of the Front Patriotique (Patriotic Front, PF), the main radical left party in the Kinshasa-based opposition. Unlike the rest of the Kinshasa opposition, the PF refused to compromise with the Mobutu regime. Whenever Mobutu invited opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi to form a government, the PF refused to participate. It also refused to participate in Mobutu's post-1990 "Sovereign National Conference" which was supposed to discuss Congo's transition to democracy. Sondji was interviewed by JEAN NANGA and ALAIN MATHIEU.
Question: The French media say Kabila is a puppet of US interests against France in the region.
Mobutu was in power for so long because of the support of the great powers, particularly the US and France. The US decided it was time to get rid of him. The new US position coincided with that of the majority of the people of Congo.
To deduce from this that Kabila is the puppet of the US is to ignore the political consciousness among the people. We have been deeply traumatised by 37 years of Mobutu. We have become well aware of the negative role of the western powers. The people of Congo will never again accept being ruled by puppets.
As for the conflict between the US and France, it doesn't concern us. We aren't French, and we aren't going to become Americans.
Question: Does the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (ADFL) have a plan that can satisfy social aspirations?
Kabila's success depends on his ability to meet the aspirations of our people: better living conditions, liberty and true democracy, common interests above individual interests, better education for all, full employment, access to quality health care, better housing, and so on. If the alliance does not meet these, then the civil war will have been for nothing.
The ADFL is a young organisation, formed in autumn 1996. It has not been easy to develop a coherent project. But it could orient itself by analysing our country's past and the factors which led to collapse.
Our economy is completely outward turned. It meets the needs of the west for raw materials much more than the needs of the people. So the first thing we must do is build an economy which has as its central goal the satisfaction of the needs of the population.
The neo-liberal currents in this part of the world are imposing the privatisation of public sector enterprises, on the grounds that they are badly managed. As far as Congo is concerned, we have plenty of badly managed private companies too. The solution to bad management is not privatisation, but good management.
Our country, and the ADFL in particular, should draw these lessons and firmly reject the structural adjustment policies being imposed by the World Bank and the IMF. This is a fundamental choice.
Question: How widespread are your views within the Kinshasa opposition?
You have to distinguish the leaders of the political parties from the ordinary people — 95% of the politicians in Congo are agents of neo-colonialism. Many envisaged some kind of harmonious cohabitation with Mobutu. They considered the armed struggle against the Mobutu regime as anti-democratic.
All of these politicians are frightened of the real changes which our country needs.
Question: What other types of political activism are there?
The "parliament on its feet" is a phenomenon of the 1990s. Its name stresses its difference from the regular parliament. During the post-1990 Sovereign National Conference, the population followed the debates with great interest. If a participant said something against the interests of the population, the politician's house was identified, and destroyed. The luxury villa of one of Mobutu's health ministers was destroyed in four hours.
This "parliament" met at newspaper stands. Political activists were invited to come and discuss with them. The movement had a semi-clandestine organisational structure. I remember once, when Tshisekedi was prime minister, he received a European Union delegation. When they emerged from Tshisekedi's house, the "parliament on its feet" was waiting, with a message in German which they passed to the delegation. As you can see, the eyes and ears of the people are organised!
There are almost as many trade unions as political parties [there are more than 350 political parties, many being front groups for Mobutu]. Some unions were only created so that their leaders could participate in the Sovereign National Congress.
Among those which have managed to organise the work force and oblige the authorities to compromise are the union at ONATRA, the company which controls the ports of Matadi, Kinshasa and the Matadi-Kinshasa railway. This union forced the government to abandon privatisation with a strike that almost suffocated the country.
The civil servants' union has also managed to organise strikes. Another serious union exists at Gecamines, which has a monopoly on the mining and sale of Congo's copper and cobalt.
Question: Is there a revolutionary left in Congo?
This is a country with enormous human and natural potential, but characterised by extreme poverty. The situation is explosive, and the contradictions are so sharp that a radical change is overdue. And yet, there are no well-structured, well-implanted revolutionary political organisations. This is for historic reasons. Congo's intellectual elite was mainly trained by the Mobutu regime, and most of the education system is controlled by the Catholic Church.
The current situation, which is obliging a growing number of Congolese to adopt a revolutionary praxis, can only facilitate the rapid assimilation of revolutionary theories by the masses.
Question: What has happened to the repressive forces of the Mobutu regime?
Most have surrendered their arms and uniforms. Many have fled to Congo-Brazzaville, contributing to the instability there. There will doubtless be some talk now about integrating part of Mobutu's armed forces into the new army, but that isn't planned for the moment.
Question: What relationship do the ADFL troops have with the population?
These are young but very disciplined soldiers. Obviously, there have been mistakes like the famous prohibition of miniskirts. But these are isolated incidents. The authorities have spoken on the radio to assure the population that there are no directives of this type, and that victims of aggression from alliance troops should make a formal complaint.
You have to understand that we still have 15,000 alliance soldiers sleeping outside because the former regime's demobilised troops and their families are occupying the barracks. We haven't expelled them because there is nowhere for them to go. This is causing all kinds of logistical problems and the occasional regrettable incident.
Question: Will the new Congo have a multiparty system or will political parties be suspended?
The new government has clearly said that there is no plan to ban political parties. But certain interests are spreading rumours to the contrary. Until the new authorities have mastered the situation, we must prevent these interests and the supporters of the previous regime from blocking the installation of the new regime.
For the moment, we have suspended party activities like large street demonstrations. But parties have not been banned or suspended.
Question: What are the first measures planned by the new government?
First, a rapid improvement in the public transport system. Then measures to help the jobs situation. We have created a kind of "infobank" to try to match unemployed people with qualifications with those who could employ them.
As health minister, I hope to establish six new medical centres, one in each province. I will also try to end the practice of patients buying their own medicines. This means supplying the hospitals with necessary pharmaceutical products.
In agriculture, we will take measures to improve the supply of food. And we will introduce a new currency.
Question: The ADFL says it wants a "social market economy". What will this mean?
The "social market economy" is a market economy which tries to take certain social needs into account. It is a capitalist economy. We in the PF oppose this orientation. We think that, now that the ADFL dominates a national government composed of various tendencies, we should reconsider this conception. The ADFL has been preoccupied with organising and carrying out the war. Only now are the fundamental questions being asked.
Generally speaking, the alliance is quite left-wing — against privatisation, suspicious of the World Bank and IMF, and so on. But, as I said, it is still too early to see how this will be translated into concrete policies.
[Abridged from International Viewpoint.]