Kabila also told Congolese television that the Constituent Assembly he had pledged would be inaugurated "absolutely, as promised" on Saturday, 1 July. He announced in May that he would establish a transitional national assembly, comprising 300 deputies, since he could "no longer be expected to put Congolese democracy on hold" in the absence of an inter-Congolese dialogue as provided for in the Lusaka agreement. Kabila offered his reassurances at that time that Kinshasa had no interest, "no interest at all", in avoiding that dialogue. Regional analysts suggested that the DRC government felt its international position had been strengthened by the UN Security Council censure of Rwandan and Ugandan operations in DRC, and that the Assembly offered an opportunity to press home the advantage with a gain over its domestic political foes. What was as yet unclear, they said, was whether it was considered that the Constituent Assembly would replace the dialogue process.
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