Obituary: Étienne Tshisekedi, eccentric adversary of DRC's dictators

The dates below the framed black-and-white photograph of Étienne Tshisekedi in the reception hall of the prime minister's offices in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital, Kinshasa, testify to a fraught and complicated relationship with power.

Tshisekedi, who died on Wednesday at 84, was named four times as prime minister of the country then known as Zaire, between 1991 to 1997.

His longest stint lasted three-and-a-half months, the shortest just five days after he intentionally omitted a reference to autocratic ruler Mobutu Sese Seko as "guarantor of the nation" from his oath of office, and was fired.

Nicknamed "the Sphinx" for not speaking much but causing a lot of trouble when he did, Tshisekedi was a crusading voice for political pluralism and democracy in the country where, since independence in 1960 from Belgium, politics have been marred by foreign intervention, civil war, coups and authoritarian rule.

While his popularity made him impossible to ignore, his legendary irascibility may have thwarted his hopes of reaching the political summit.

Now, as the DRC experiences its latest political crisis over President Joseph Kabila's failure to step down at the end of his constitutional mandate last December, Tshisekedi's absence will test the DRC's divided and often ineffectual opposition.

Tshisekedi began his political career as a close loyalist of Mobutu, but broke ranks in 1982 to found the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS). As the first organised opposition platform at a time of strict one-party rule, the party endured harsh repression. Tshisekedi was repeatedly imprisoned.

But he tapped into widespread discontent as Mobutu's kleptocratic rule entered its third decade and the appeal of his calls to Zairean "authenticity" wore thin.

The post-Soviet democratic wave that swept across Africa forced Mobutu to accede to multi-partyism in 1990, but he held onto power for another seven years.

He finally fell in 1997 to an invasion by Rwanda, Uganda and other neighbouring countries in support of a rebel movement led by Laurent Kabila. That war and a subsequent 1998-2003 regional conflict killed millions of Congolese, most from hunger and disease.

Under the rules of Laurent Kabila and his son, Joseph, who took power in 2001 after Laurent's assassination, Tshisekedi reprised his role as opposition leader, presiding over a UDPS party installed across the vast central African country.

But many, including some collaborators, thought his legendary stubbornness and disdain for what he perceived to be the establishment squandered repeated opportunities to unseat entrenched rulers.

He called for a boycott of the 2005 constitutional referendum and also sat out the 2006 presidential vote, the country's first free elections in more than 40 years, won by Joseph Kabila.

He finished runner-up to Kabila in the 2011 presidential election, a vote international observers said was marred by widespread fraud.

Foreign diplomats and investors were wary of the unpredictable Tshisekedi who, in turn, harboured lingering suspicions of the Western powers who had backed the anti-communist Mobutu during the Cold War.

"He's someone who attacked ferociously, but didn't know how to take power," said Jean Omasombo, an expert on the DRC at the Royal Central Africa Museum in Belgium.

Tshisekedi spent much time in recent years outside the country receiving medical treatment as the DRC spiralled towards a constitutional crisis. Dozens of people have died in anti-government protests over the past two years, including about 40 last month when Kabila failed to step down at the end of his term.

Under a deal cut on December 31, Tshisekedi was set to take the top post in a transitional council that would oversee Kabila's exit by the end of this year.

His son, Felix, is tipped to be named prime minister in a forthcoming power-sharing government. No other opposition leader has proved able to match his mobilising prowess or reputation for principled opposition.

Tshisekedi died in Brussels, where he had been flown for medical treatment on January 24.

1932-2017