An End to the Legitimacy Crisis or Dividing Pie

This book provides a general overview of one of the defining moments in the political history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: the transition to the unprecedented "1+4" formula. Having endured many years of instability and uncertainty, the DRC had made a firm commitment following the 2002 national dialogue-through its political actors and civil society-to put an end to the long-standing crisis of institutional legitimacy. What were the terms of the agreement reached in this endeavor? How was this agreement implemented, and which actors-at least the key players-were involved? Did it definitively resolve the issue of institutional legitimacy? These are the questions this book sets out to answer. We have also taken a journey through the political history of the Congo since 1960 to gain a deeper understanding of the recurring conflicts among politicians, the repeated military crises, the coups d'état, and the dialogues that each time served as the last line of defense-yet without truly resolving the issue.