Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 25 January 2019, has been nominated for the prestigious Gandhi Mandela Award to be held later this year. He is the leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), the oldest and largest party of the Democratic Republic of Congo, succeeding his late father Étienne Tshisekedi in that role. In late 2008, Tshisekedi was named as the UDPS National Secretary for external relations. In November 2011, he obtained a seat in the National Assembly, representing the city of Mbuji Mayi in Kasai-Oriental province. He did not take his seat citing a fraudulent election and his mandate was invalidated for "absenteeism".

In October 2016, Tshisekedi became vice secretary general of the UDPS. On 31 March 2018, he was elected to lead the UDPS, after his father's death on 1 February 2017. The very same day, he was chosen by his party to be the UDPS presidential candidate in the general election that took place on 30 December 2018. South Africa, on 20 January congratulated Felix Tshisekedi on becoming president of DR Congo despite the African Union and EU warning of doubts over the result announced by the Constitutional Court. After Tshisekedi was sworn in, it was reported that a member of Kabila's coalition would be picked to serve as his Prime Minister.

On 13 March 2019, Tshisekedi signed a decree to pardon approximately 700 prisoners, including imprisoned political opponents of Kabila.