{{Update|2023 election|date=September 2023}} {{Short description|Congolese politician (born 1956)}} {{use dmy dates|date=June 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Martin Fayulu | image = Martin Fayulu Par Ezra Sierra © 2018 cropped.jpg | alt = Fayulu in 2018. | caption = Fayulu in 2018. | office = Member of the National Assembly | term_start = 28 November 2011 | term_end = 7 March 2019 | constituency= Lukunga District, Kinshasa | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1956|11|21|df=y}} | birth_place = Léopoldville, Belgian Congo {{small|(now Kinshasa, DR Congo)}} | death_date = | death_place = | education = Paris 12 Val de Marne University<br />Institut Superieur de Gestion<br />European University of America }}
'''Martin Madidi Fayulu''' (born 21 November 1956) is a Congolese politician and businessman. He is the leader of the Engagement for Citizenship and Development party.
On 11 November 2018, he was chosen by seven opposition leaders to be their joint presidential candidate in the 2018 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election.<ref>{{Cite web |last=TOPAFRICANEWS |date=2018-11-11 |title=DRC Election: Martin Fayulu appointed as unique opposition candidate - TOP AFRICA NEWS |url=https://www.topafricanews.com/2018/11/11/drc-election-martin-fayulu-appointed-as-unique-opposition-candidate/ |access-date=2025-06-13 |language=en-US}}</ref> However, within 24 hours, Félix Tshisekedi, the eventual official winner of the 2018 presidential election, despite being widely viewed as fraudulent, and Vital Kamerhe, the other opposition candidate, rescinded their endorsement of his candidacy and formed their own pact with Tshisekedi as candidate.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/dr-congo-opposition-picks-joint-presidential-candidate-172833022.html|title=DR Congo opposition picks joint presidential candidate|agency=AFP|publisher=Yahoo News|date=11 November 2018|accessdate=11 November 2018|archive-date=30 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930052925/https://www.yahoo.com/news/dr-congo-opposition-picks-joint-presidential-candidate-172833022.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-congo-politics/congo-opposition-picks-martin-fayulu-as-its-presidential-candidate-idUSKCN1NG0QL|title=Congo opposition picks Martin Fayulu as its presidential candidate|publisher=Reuters|date=11 November 2018|accessdate=11 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-congo-politics/congos-tshisekedi-and-kamerhe-form-presidential-pact-idUSKCN1NS1YV|title=Congo's Tshisekedi and Kamerhe form presidential pact|agency=Reuters|publisher=Reuters News|date=23 November 2018|accessdate=18 February 2019}}</ref>
==Biography== thumb|left|150px|Fayulu in 2015.
Born in Kinshasa, then Léopoldville, Martin Fayulu is a former ExxonMobil executive, having worked with the oil company from 1984 until 2003. He served as the company's director-general in Ethiopia as his last post. His involvement in politics began in 1991 when he attended the Sovereign National Conference, which brought together delegates from different regions and organizations to campaign for a multi-party democracy. Mobutu Sese Seko, the totalitarian President of Zaire (as the Democratic Republic of the Congo was then called), allowed the conference to take place but rejected its conclusions. Fayulu did not enter politics full time until 2006, after Mobutu and his dictatorship were gone. In the 2006 and 2011 general elections, he was elected as an MP to the National Assembly. In 2009, he established the Commitment for Citizenship and Development party, which has three MPs, including Fayulu.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46453044 DR Congo election: Martin Fayulu's ambition to be president]. BBC. 19 December 2018.</ref>
Félix Tshisekedi was declared the winner of the December 2018 election, despite election observers' belief that Fayulu had won the vote, in what was seen by Fayulu and his supporters as a deal between Tshisekedi and outgoing President Joseph Kabila.<ref name="ap1">[https://www.apnews.com/64b3de3ee8e1482682d16654b20f517e The Latest: Opposition candidate Fayulu denounces results]. Associated Press. Published 10 January 2019.</ref><ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-congo-election-fayulu/runner-up-in-congos-presidential-election-dismisses-results-as-an-electoral-coup-idUSKCN1P40BX Runner-up in Congo's presidential election dismisses results as an 'electoral coup']. Reuters. Published 10 January 2019.</ref> Fayulu challenged the result in the DRC's Constitutional Court, which has been criticised for being staffed primarily by Kabila appointees, and thus by late January 2019 the court ruled that Tshisekedi was the rightful winner and he was sworn in as President.<ref name="electionresultscourt">[https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-congos-internet-service-back-20-days-60494435 The Latest: Congo runner-up: Don't recognize Tshisekedi]. ABC News, 19 January 2019</ref><ref name="fra24">[https://www.france24.com/en/20190120-dr-congo-top-court-upholds-Tshisekedi-presidential-election-win-DRC DR Congo top court upholds Tshisekedi presidential election win]. France24, 19 January 2019</ref> He has continued to remain active in politics since the election, continuing to claim that he was the rightful winner.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-congo-politics/congo-president-and-predecessor-agree-on-division-of-cabinet-posts-idUSKCN1UL1UD Congo president and predecessor agree on division of cabinet posts]. Reuters, 26 July 2019</ref> In late July 2019, he met in Lubumbashi with members of the opposition, including former Katanga Province governor Moïse Katumbi, former Prime Minister Adolphe Muzito, and a representative of former rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba. They discussed the future of the opposition and democracy in the DRC.<ref>[https://www.africanews.com/2019/07/31/dr-congo-opposition-leaders-meet-in-lubumbashi-morning-call/ DR Congo: Opposition leaders meet in Lubumbashi]. Africa News, 31 July 2019</ref> {{clearleft}}
During the M23 campaign in early 2025, Fayulu called on the leader of the rebel Congo River Alliance, Corneille Nangaa, to stop the fighting and to respect the integrity of the country's territory and the lives of Congolese people.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lukombo |first=Samyr |title=M23/AFC dans l'Est de la RDC: Fayulu exhorte Nangaa à déposer les armes et à faire prévaloir l'intérêt supérieur de la nation |trans-title=M23/AFC in eastern DRC: Fayulu urges Nangaa to lay down their arms and to ensure that the best interests of the nation prevail |date=1 March 2025 |work=Actualite.cd |url=https://actualite.cd/2025/03/01/m23afc-dans-lest-de-la-rdc-fayulu-exhorte-nangaa-deposer-les-armes-et-faire-prevaloir }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{commons category-inline}}
{{2023 presidential candidates, Democratic Republic of the Congo}} {{2018 presidential candidates, Democratic Republic of the Congo}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fayulu, Martin}} Category:1956 births Category:Candidates for President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Category:Democratic Republic of the Congo businesspeople Category:ExxonMobil people Category:Living people Category:Members of the National Assembly (Democratic Republic of the Congo) Category:People from Kinshasa