Laurent Kabila consolidated power in his own hands Friday, scrapping the post of prime minister and snubbing the man who led years of peaceful protests against dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.
The move by the self-proclaimed president angered longtime opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, who had hoped to be named prime minister, a job from which he was twice ousted by Mobutu."For me, he is not the president," Tshisekedi said Friday, as his supporters marched through Kinshasa's streets in protest. "He is the candidate for president."
The statement was bound to make Kabila's first weeks as leader of the vast, struggling land more difficult and underscored the disappointment of some who hoped for an inclusive government from the man who toppled Mobutu.
Tshisekedi blamed Kabila's aides for the breakdown in communications and said he wanted to meet the former rebel leader face-to-face.
"It's not because I want power. It's because I've been fighting the Mobutu regime for 17 years," he said.
The marchers denounced Kabila as another dictator.
"We cannot fill a hole by creating another hole," said protester Papi Kongolo. "We are going to struggle for our liberty, even if our blood is shed."
Mobutu, who last week fled the country he had ruled for nearly 32 years, flew into the Moroccan capital of Rabat Friday.
Propped up by his wife and accompanied by 56 followers, the ailing strongman left the west African country of Togo in the presidential jet of Togo's leader, an old friend. His eventual destination for life in exile was thought to be France.
Six days after declaring himself president, Kabila named a partial list of Cabinet ministers Friday, most of them from his rebel alliance that rolled across the country in an eight-month rebellion. He included some other political groups but refused to take Tshisekedi, the popular opposition leader.
The new information minister, Raphael Ghenda, said Kabila would rule without a vice president or a prime minister - the country's top government job under Mobutu - and would also retain control of the military.
"It's a presidential system," Ghenda said.
Seven of the 13 Cabinet ministers chosen came from Kabila's Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo, and the rest came from other political groups, including two from Tshisekedi's party. None came from parties formerly allied with Mobutu.
"We were open to any tendency except Mobutu's followers, those who terrorized and oppressed our people," said Gaetan Kakudji, a top Alliance official. "We've forgiven, but we can't forget."
At Friday's march, the protesters criticized the two men from Tshisekedi's party who accepted Cabinet positions as "betrayers."