The main headlines in 29 January 2007's Kinshasa press are mainly related to Saturday's elections of provincial governors, with newspapers offering wide comments on the surprise defeat for Jean-Pierre Bemba's opposition coalition, the Union for the Nation, in the capital despite their having a majority there.

As foreseen in the calendar set by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), the elections of provincial governors and vice-governors took place on Saturday, 27 January 2007, but with a major surprise. In the capital, the outcome of the vote by provincial deputies "resulted in the unexpected victory for the candidate [of the pro-Kabila PPRD party], André Kimbuta, with 26 votes to 22 for Adam Bombole [who belongs to Bemba's] MLC [party]," La Tempête des Tropiques notes. Le Phare speaks of a real "dramatic turn of events," especially because "all 48 provincial deputies [of the capital] were present in the City Hall and all participated in the vote, but nobody could understand how the Union for the Nation with its 28 deputies, 22 of whom from MLC [Movement for the Liberation of Congo] and 6 allies, could lose to an adversary with such a numerical disadvantage."

Jean-Pierre Bemba was "betrayed by his allies ...who failed to vote for the MLC candidate," Forum des As infers. La Tempête des Tropiques identifies those in Bemba's coalition who gave their votes to the opposite camp's candidate as being "deputies from the Alliance des Bâtisseurs du Congo [Builders of Congo Alliance]'.

Bemba and his Movement for the Liberation of Congo, Forum des As writes, have "now discover[ed] at their own expense that the political coalition named 'Union for the Nation' now exists only in name".

In any case, "it is quite typical of Congolese politicians to change sides,...selling themselves to the highest bidder," observes Forum des As, which anticipates that "in this context, it will be difficult for Jan-Pierre Bemba to build a strong opposition"

For the moment, Bemba "should do some self-introspection and understand that the support he had received from some quarters was merely a fashionable fad without a real political foundation," says L'Avenir, citing François Mwamba.

Le Potentiel, citing a Union of Nation official, says: "Most of the political personalities who had joined the Union for the Nation coalition did so only of out political opportunism, without any real conviction...Others had meant to settle accounts with some adversaries." Consequently, "The Union for the Nation has destroyed hopes for a strong, republic opposition; for it now represents a weak, fragile and demotivated opposition, [reduced as it is to] an empty shell that can be crushed by the large presidential majority," Le Potentiel writes. It states that "in order to be a strong republican opposition, [a party] needs to avoid having among its ranks needy and, therefore, easily manipulable members".

The danger would be if "the Union for the Nation, which still remains the only institutional opposition, gets supplanted by the non-institutional opposition now represented by [Etienne Tshisekedi's] UDPS [party]," Le Potentiel concludes.

In other news, referring to the United Nations Secretary-General's visit to the DRC this past weekend, Le Palmarès notes: "The DRC remains a priority for the United Nations." While in the country, however, Mr Ban Ki-Moon "urged Congolese leaders to ensure good governance."

Mr. Ban also "insisted on rooting out corruption, the creation of a real national army, the formation and procurement of the national police...," according to Le Potentiel.