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| - DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi will unveil long-awaited decisions on Sunday on a crisis that has brewed with supporters of his predecessor Joseph Kabila, his office said on Friday. "The president will speak on Sunday at 2:30 pm (1330 GMT). @fatshi13 will convey his much-awaited decisions to his fellow citizens," spokesman Kasongo Mwema said on Twitter, referring to Tshisekedi's Twitter handle. The announcement follows a months-long crisis between Tshisekedi and pro-Kabila supporters, who wield a majority in parliament. Tshisekedi took over from Kabila in January 2019, in the Democratic Republic of Congo's first peaceful transition since independence from Belgium in 1960. But his room for implementing much-trumpeted reforms was crimped by the need to forge a coalition with the pro-Kabila Common Front for the Congo (FCC). Tensions surfaced publicly after Tshisekedi in July named three new justices to the top court, the Constitutional Council, overriding strong protests from the FCC. In October, Tshisekedi revealed there had been discord over major issues with the FCC-dominated government. These included national security, the management of state assets, the independence of the judiciary and the organisation of elections. Last month, he embarked on three weeks of consultations with various parties and political figures, seeking "the sacred union of the nation," in his office's words. In the capital Kinshasa, speculation has been rife that he may dissolve the government -- a move that could escalate friction, as the coalition was born of a deal, still unpublished, that Tshisekedi and Kabila struck in January 2019. Kabila ruled DR Congo, the largest country in southern Africa, for 18 years until he stepped down after long-delayed elections in December 2018. He retains considerable clout through political allies and officers he appointed to the armed forces, and is also a senator for life. In the runup to Sunday's announcement, Tshisekedi conferred at length on Tuesday with senior members of the armed forces and police. They "gave an assurance about your supreme authority -- no campaign of sedition, of any kind, will shake our civil commitment and our determination to remain apolitical," army spokesman General Leon Kasonga said in a video released by the presidency. Separately, the head of the elite Republican Guard, in a video circulating on social media, has warned his men "not to plot against the government by taking part in clandestine meetings." In a report to the UN Security Council on Monday, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was "concerned by the political tensions within the ruling coalition." These "could undermine the fragile political stability, reverse the gains made since the 2018 elections and the resulting peaceful transfer of power, as well as divert efforts to address security challenges" in the east of the vast country, he warned. mbb/st/ri/erc
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