Editing Laurent-Désiré Kabila (section)

== Presidency (1997–2001) ==
[[File:Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1997–2003).svg|thumb|The [[Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo]] used by Kabila.]]
{{see also|Second Congo War}}
Kabila had previously been a committed Marxist, but his policies at this point were [[Social democracy|social democratic]]. He declared that elections would not be held for two years, since it would take him at least that long to restore order. While some in the West hailed Kabila as representing a "new breed" of African leadership, critics charged that Kabila's policies differed little from his predecessor's, being characterised by authoritarianism, corruption, and human rights abuses.  As early as late 1997, Kabila was being denounced as "another Mobutu". Kabila was also accused trying to set up a [[personality cult]]. Mobutu's former minister of information, [[Dominique Sakombi Inongo]], was retained by Kabila; he branded Kabila as "the Mzee," and created posters reading "Here is the man we needed" ({{langx|fr|Voici l'homme que nous avions besoin}}) appeared all over the country.
<ref name=Edgerton>{{Cite book |last=Edgerton |first=Robert |date=18 December 2002 |title=The Troubled Heart of Africa: A History of the Congo |url=https://archive.org/details/troubledheartofa00edge |url-access=registration |publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]] |isbn=0-312-30486-2}}</ref>

By 1998, Kabila's former allies in Uganda and Rwanda had turned against him and backed a new rebellion of the [[Rally for Congolese Democracy]] (RCD) and the [[Movement for the Liberation of the Congo]] (MLC). Kabila found new allies in [[Angola]], [[Namibia]] and [[Zimbabwe]], and managed to hold on in the south and west of the country and by July 1999, peace talks led to the withdrawal of most foreign forces.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}