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Thanks to international pressure, parliamentary elections
were held at the end of 1977 and some power was given to the
new legislative assembly. They helped to divert
international attention from the repression against students
and intellectuals in the cities, from the concentration
camps set up for opposition groups and the harsh treatment
of the returning refugees who had been favored by an amnesty
decreed in 1979.
At that time, Zaire was the world's largest exporter of
cobalt, the fourth largest producer of diamonds, and was
among the ten largest producers of uranium, copper,
manganese and tin. According to
Countryaah data,
the cobalt used in the North American aerospace industry
comes from Zaire for the most part, but the regime's
widespread corruption led to severe economic crises with
sky-high unemployment.
In the period from 1980-1981, the Western powers decided
to intervene to ensure control of the country's
strategically important mineral deposits. The IMF offered to
support Zaire and renegotiated a debt settlement agreement.
Drastic measures were put in place to introduce a minimum of
morality within the bureaucracy. Zaire's economy was
formally put under direct administration by the IMF, whose
employees in Kinshasa personally oversaw the country's
finances.
Towards the end of 1982, the statistics began to show
positive trends, which helped the international and European
creditors to breathe a little easier, although conditions
for the people of Zaire deteriorated due to the rigid
methods recommended by the IMF.
In April 1981, then-Prime Minister Nguza Karl in Bond
resigned and applied for asylum in Belgium; he accused
Mobutu of abusing power while trying to portray himself as a
decent alternative to the widespread corruption in the
country.
In the July 1984 election, Mobutu obtained 99.16% of the
votes cast. In February 1985, Zaire entered into a security
agreement with Angola to improve relations between the two
countries that had been in bad shape for most of a decade
due to Zaire's support for FNLA and the presence of the
Congolese Liberation Movement on Angolan soil.
Less successful was the initiative Mobutu presented in
July 1984 on the establishment of a "League of Nations from
Black Africa", openly intended to compete with the Arab
League. The proposal was rejected by all progressive
countries in the region.
The Government of Angola claimed that $ 15 million in aid
from the Reagan administration was secretly channeled
through Zaire to FNLA; In doing so, the Central African
country was transformed into a veritable weapons warehouse
for FNLA.
During a visit to Washington in June 1989, Mobutu
obtained a $ 20 million World Bank loan. Mobutu had arrived
in Washington with an important diplomatic victory in his
back: In his hometown, Gbadolite, he hosted the historic
meeting of Angola President Edoardo dos Santos and UNITA
rebel leader Jonas Savimbi, where it was decided to enter a
ceasefire agreement to find a peaceful outcome to the
conflict in Angola.
To prepare for a process he thought was imminent, in
April 1990 Mobutu decided to make a bold attempt: he
abolished the one-party system, allowed alternative unions,
and promised to hold free elections over the next 12 months.
It became the beginning of a rapid process of political
organization; hundreds of federations of various kinds and
political organizations demanded legalization. The popular
reaction surprised the authorities and on May 3, Mobutu
declared that no party had yet been legalized and that a
constitutional amendment would be necessary before the
election, as the head of state wanted to "preserve his power
without being subjected to criticism".
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