Republic of Congo’s ruling party has clear lead in legislative elections

KIGALI, Rwanda

The Republic of Congo’s ruling party has a clear lead in the first round of legislative elections held last Sunday, according to results announced Friday.

The Congolese Labor Party (PCT) of President Denis Sassou Nguesso won nearly 110 seats out of 151, according to provisional results published by Territorial Administration Minister Guy-Georges Mbaka.

Parties allied with the PCT won 12 seats, while opposition parties won eight, according to the results that must be validated by the Constitutional Court.

More than 2,000 candidates competed for 151 assembly seats.

Mbaka did not disclose the voter turnout but civil society observers said it was low, especially in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire.

Roughly 2.8 million voters were registered to take part in the election of deputies to the National Assembly and councilors.

The ruling party won with scores of 100% for some candidates.

In the south, PCT candidates won more seats in the economic capital, Pointe-Noire.

Councilors elected in last week’s election will in turn choose 72 senators in the first chamber of parliament.

A second round is due July 24 to fill the remaining seats.

The African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) electoral observation missions in their preliminary report published July 12 in Brazzaville, said: “Notwithstanding some failures, the election was peaceful without major incidents.”

“The Independent National Electoral Commission and the Monitoring Committee staff demonstrated competence in the majority of the centers visited,” said the AU observer mission led by Kwesi Ahoomey-Zunu.

The ECCAS mission said there was fair play during the campaign, as candidates' posters had not been torn down.

Some violence was reported in electoral districts, such as Mossaka 1 and Mouyondzi, in the Bouenza, where cases of physical attacks were registered.

Gilbert Mouyabi, the Prosecutor General of the Supreme Court, asked prosecutors to initiate legal proceedings against alleged perpetrators of violence.

Nguesso has ruled for 37 years. He amended the Constitution in 2015 to extend term limits and was re-elected with 88% of the vote in 2021.