A WEEKEND vote in one of the world's largest and least respected parliaments has raised hopes that Zaire's President Mobutu Sese Seko can at last be prevailed upon to resign after 32 years in power. But few in the capital, Kinshasa, believe the election of a potential successor to the cancer stricken dictator will halt the advance of rebels on the city.
According to various reports, Mr Laurent Kabila's forces, which control three quarters of the country, are now between 80 km and 160 km from the capital. Yesterday rebel spokesman said they had abandoned a pledge to the South African president, Mr Nelson Mandela, to halt their advance.
Shortly after the President's return home after another round of diplomacy on Saturday, legislators voted Catholic Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo to the position of parliamentary speaker.
Under Zaire's transitional constitution, the speaker succeeds to power if the president dies, resigns or is incapacitated.
"We are hoping he [Monsignor Monsengwo] will play a role as a national mediator and will persuade all sides to agree on a way of safeguarding the democratic process in Zaire," said Mr Christophe Lutundula, second deputy Speaker of Parliament. Though widely regarded as an independent figure, Monsignor Monsengwo is considered too close to the Mobutu camp by the Zaire's main opposition party, the UDPS, which boycotted the weekend vote. Unable to please either side, the archbishop was ousted from the post of speaker two years ago.
"This election is illegal because there was no consensus," opposition spokesman, Mr Valentin Mubake, told The Irish Times yesterday. "Mobutu was controlling the vote through his parliamentary majority. It's a method we've seen when a king is tired - he looks for an ally to stand in for him. Zaire is no nearer to peace than it was."
Before the archbishop's election, the rebel Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo Zaire rejected the constitutional process whereby the speaker can become interim president. The rebels say any peace agreement must be conditional on President Mobutu's resignation and a hand over of power to Mr Kabila. Later yesterday the rebel "foreign minister", Mr Bizima Karaha, told a news conference in Lubumbashi that the rebels would abandon the South African peace initiative and storm Kinshasa if Archbishop Monsengwo accepted his election.
South Africa and the US have been pressing for a "soft landing" of the rebels in Kinshasa which might enable Mr Mobutu to stand aside quietly. Mr Bill Richardson, US ambassador to the UN, has said he still believes a peaceful outcome to the crisis is possible but has conceded that any new government would "most likely" be headed by Mr Kabila.
Observers believe the appointment of Monsignor Monsengwo could provide Mr Mobutu with the chance of a dignified exit.
Mr Mobutu and the rebel leader are due to meet for further talks aboard a South African ship on Wednesday.
Reuter adds from Brussels: Archbishop Monsengwo said yesterday he had not yet decided whether to take up the appointment as speaker of Zaire's transitional parliament.
The archbishop, who was returning from a visit to Rome, said he was planning to return shortly to Kinshasa, and said that his final decision on the post would be made there.