By Juakali Kambale

KINSHASA, Nov 29 (IPS) - Catherine Nzuzi wa Mbombo has set her sights on one of the four vice-presidency posts reserved for Congo's civilian opposition.

Her desire to lobby for the job followed last week's suspension of talks in Pretoria, South Africa. The talks were supposed to culminate in the setting up of political institutions, during the transitional period until ''free and fair elections'' are held, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Mbombo is the president of the Popular Movement of the Revolution, which under the late dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko, was the country's only legal political party. She trumpets her role as mother and her 30-year political career as qualifications for the job.

''The reason I've decided to be a vice-presidential candidate is because I believe the lack of a feminine sensibility is what's causing the constant breakdowns of the Congolese talks,'' she told IPS during a telephone interview from Pretoria.

''Since 1996, men have been at war without coming closer to finding a solution to the country's political woes. Faced with the suffering of our people, I'm sure that the sensitivity of woman and mother can help bring these men back to their senses,'' she said.

Mbombo, 60, is the first woman to officially declare her political ambition to serve in the new DRC government. A former provincial governor and mayor of the capital city Kinshasa, she remains loyal to Mobutu's political family. She even went to prison during the political upheaval which dogged Congo at the end of May 1998. After that, she became a high-profile critic of the late president Laurent-Desire Kabila.

Another woman also has hinted at interest in the post of Speaker of the National Assembly. Elysee Dimandja, 35, is a journalist and human rights activist. Her goal is to see a new generation of political leaders emerge in Congo. ''The reason we keep encountering breakdown after breakdown in these talks is because the participants are mostly the same old politicians who've managed government affairs since the country's independence (from Belgium) in 1960,'' she says.

However, to be considered for the post, Dimandja must first overcome a considerable roadblock, as she did not sign the original peace accord in Sun City, South Africa. Under the accord, the signatories are the only ones who will be allowed to seek the top posts in government.

''Women from the rebel groups may also be candidates,'' says Martine Masike, a political analyst in Kinshasa.

''I'm encouraging Congolese women to seek as many of these positions as possible, and the possibilities are limitless. A woman president? Why not? I 've always bemoaned the fact that Congolese women tend to fade into the background, thinking that their time will eventually come, when in fact, their time is here right now,'' she says.

Venant Tshipasa, president of the Christian Democratic Party, another opposition group, which participated in Pretoria talks, notes, ''We can only applaud the women who've decided to break out of the cocoon that has imprisoned them. It's great that Madame Nzuzi wa Mbombo is seeking the vice-presidency. Now is precisely the time to show that the 'feminine sensibility' that she takes pride in is not just a slogan,'' he says.

''Personally, I think, we men have not shown political responsibility during the crisis in Congo. But is Congolese society mature enough to accept women in such high-ranking roles? Tshipasa wonders.

''Men do not seem ready to let women get involved in what has always been their privileged preserve,'' he says.

Four men are competing against Mbombo. They are Etienne Tshisekedi, president of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress, Joseph Olengankoy, president of the Innovative Forces for Unity and Solidarity, Eugene Diomi Ndongala, president of the Front for the Survival of Democracy-Christian Democracy, and Gerard Kamanda wa Kamanda, president of the Joint Nationalist Front.

Tshisekedi is a popular candidate for the post. Surveys conducted by the Congolese Institute of Public Opinion show that many favour his candidacy. However, Tshisekedi did not sign the Sun City accord. He also has become so allied with the armed rebel group RCD/Goma that the government now feels that he is more a ''military candidate than a civilian one''.

The DRC talks, which are being facilitated by Moustapha Niasse, the special envoy of the United Nations Secretary General, and South African President Thabo Mbeki, resumed on Nov 15. However, they were once again suspended eight days later because of a lack of consensus. They are scheduled to resume on Dec 9.

The people in Kinshasa are growing weary of the negotiations' dragging pace, since no conclusion seems to be in sight.

However, some South African Africa affairs observers, who have been following the talks closely are still concerned that the peace-deal may run into resistance on the ground in the Congo. They point out that many local and regional warlords, who have used the conflict to get rich, have no vested interest in building peace.

However, the withdrawal of foreign troops, who were drawn into the DRC conflict, is seen a real move towards peace. The DRC rebel groups were backed by Rwanda and Uganda, while the DRC government received military support from Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola.

At the height of the war (Aug 1998-Sep 2002), there were well over 50,000 troops from seven different African states fighting in the Congo.(END/IPS/AF/IP/TRA-FRE/KJ/SZ/MN/02)