Political repression
Mobutu's régime became more radical during the 1970s. The "Mouvement populaire de la Révolution" (MPR), of which Mobutu was the "président-fondateur", firmly established one-party rule. Political repression increased considerably. Mobutu renamed the Congo as the republic of Zaïre. The so-called "Zaïrisation" of the country in the mid-1970s led to an exodus of foreign workers and economic disaster. In the 1980s the Mobutu regime became a byword for mismanagement and corruption. Relations with Belgium, the former colonial power, went through a series of ups and downs, reflecting a steady decline in the underlying economic, financial and political interests. As there was no danger of the country falling into Soviet hands, the Western powers maintained a neutral stance.