DRC President Félix Tshisekedi, the underdog who is now the top dog, has surprised time and again by triumphing over his rivals. But now he is coming up against his most formidable opponent -- himself.

People called him a buffoon and doubted that his presidency of the Democratic Republic of the Congo would amount to much as it was illegitimate and left the country in the clutches of the Kabila clan.

Félix Tshisekedi was so overwhelmed by the surprising turn of events that propelled him to the country's highest office that he fainted at his inauguration on 24 January 2019.

But the political neophyte managed to marginalise or co-opt many political leaders who thought they were smarter than him -- and is now poised to win a second term as president on 20 December, according to most analysts.

''Fatshi'', as he is affectionately known to many Congolese, owes his political life to his late father, Étienne Tshisekedi, the courageous long-time opponent of the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.

Tshisekedi Snr spent long periods in jail and several shorter spells as prime minister before his death in 2017. Félix Tshisekedi spent most of his formative years in Belgium, ''a son of Matonge'', the African district of Brussels, before returning to the DRC.

Tshisekedi Snr left for his son an organised political base in the form of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), a party that...