Congo's opposition icon Etienne Tshisekedi, who pushed for democratic reforms for decades in the vast Central African nation throughout dictatorship and civil war, has died, his political party said.
He was 84.
His death comes at a politically fragile moment for Congo, where he was heavily involved in the recent deal to get President Joseph Kabila to agree to step down by the end of this year after months of deadly protests. The parties signed a deal that has yet to be implemented.
The stalemate already had worried observers, and Tshisekedi's death likely will compound the difficulties. Tshisekedi had been seeking medical treatment in Belgium, Congo's former coloniser. He has long battled rumours of ill health because of complications from diabetes. In 2010, he walked 25 kilometres from the airport to his suburban home in Kinshasa upon his triumphant return from medical treatment abroad.
A statement released late yesterday by party spokesman Augustin Kabuya did not state a cause of death. Radio France Internationale said he died from a pulmonary embolism. It was not immediately clear when his funeral would be held back home in Congo.
Tshisekedi formed the country's first opposition party in 1982 -- the Union for Democracy and Social Progress or UDPS -- in an effort to combat the longtime dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko.
Despite serving as the country's most iconic opposition figure, he never managed to ascend to Congo's highest office though he once declared himself president after the 2011 election was marred by allegations of vote rigging by the ruling party.
Most recently, he had been the current president's most outspoken critic, at one point last year accusing Kabila of "treason" for not stepping down at the end of his mandate. A court ruled that Kabila could stay on until the next election is held, but critics say the court was biased.
"I launch a solemn appeal to the Congolese people to not recognise the illegal and illegitimate authority of Joseph Kabila, and to peacefully resist a coup d'etat that was carried out with the blessing of the constitutional court," he said in December in a message carried on YouTube.
With his death, Tshisekedi did not live to see whether Kabila will make good on his promise to leave by the end of 2017.
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