Last Chance for Parliament

Can a military regime coexist with an elected Parliament? Four months ago, when General Joseph Mobutu overthrew the Congo's perennially squabbling civilian government, he gave coexistence a try. Announcing that the nation would be under military rule for five years, Mobutu nevertheless allowed Parliament to stay open to approve his decrees and constitutional amendments.

It was a worthy enough experiment, but it never got off the ground. Parliament immediately went into a long recess, and when it finally reconvened last month, an angry Mobutu all but put it out of business.

"My disillusions have been great," the general told the assembled legislators. "Profiting from the recess, certain of you have spread false reports in your home areas. You have done everything to sow disorder."

Mobutu had obvious cause for com plaint. Many Assemblymen had spent their vacations whipping up local sentiment against his measures to cut down government spending and end their cherished kickbacks and bribes. Some had railed against his campaign to persuade Congolese farmers to return to the fields they had deserted during the Simba rebellion, and their opposition had been so effective that Mobutu had threatened to send troops to the empty farm lands.

What most annoyed Mobutu, though, was something much more direct: "It has been said that Parliament will annul the ordinances that I have decreed since November. Therefore I am forced to take the decision not to permit Parliament to discuss either the laws I have passed or the laws I shall pass in the future." Last week, as good as his word, Mobutu stripped the legislators of everything but their salaries--and the occasional right of rubber-stamping his constitutional amendments. And, as he had warned, unless they stopped their political intrigues, he could close Parliament altogether. "This," said Mobutu, "is your last chance."

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