Congo

National Assembly

Political system: Presidential-Parliamentary
Structure of parliament: Bicameral
IPU membership: Yes

Election results

Data on parliamentary elections, including the background, candidates, voter turnout, results and the formation of the new legislature. By default the latest election results are displayed. Select a date to view results from previous elections.

Background

Election date(s): 16 Jul 2017 to 30 Jul 2017
Date of dissolution of the outgoing legislature: No information available
Timing of election: Upon normal expiry
Number of seats at stake: 151
Scope of elections: Full renewal

Candidates

Total number of candidates: 711
The number of women candidates is not available from authoritative sources.: Yes

Voter turnout

Registered voters: 2,221,596

Results

About the election: President Denis Sassou-Nguesso's Congolese Workers Party (PCT) retained a comfortable majority in the 151-member National Assembly (see note 1), taking 91 seats. The main opposition, the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS), led by Mr. Pascal Tsaty Mabiala, took eight seats. 20 independent candidates were elected. They belong to the Union of Humanist Democrats" (UDH-Yuki), led by Mr. Guy-Brice Parfait Kolélas (who came second in the 2016 presidential elections.

The Movement for Unity, Solidarity, and Work (MUST), led by former Minister of Trade and presidential candidate Ms. Claudine Munari, boycotted the 2017 elections, arguing that President Sassou-Nguesso's re-election in 2016 was illegitimate (see note 2) and that it would be improper to hold an election while the Pool region was suffering from renewed fighting. This call was echoed by another opposition coalition comprising the Initiative for Democracy in Congo and the Republican Front for the Respect of Constitutional Order and Democratic Alternation (FROCAD/IDC) and the “Composante Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko” (CJ3M). Two leaders of the CJ3M - former General Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko and MP André Okombi Salissa - were arrested in June 2016 and in January 2017 and charged with "threatening the internal security of the state".

Note 1:

The statutory number of members of the National Assembly increased from 139 to 151 following amendments to the electoral law in April 2017, which created new constituencies in several departments. Elections in nine constituencies in the Pool Department did not take place in 2017 due to security reasons. In accordance with a ministerial decision of July 2017, the parliamentary mandate of nine outgoing members representing the Pool Department (as well as the senators whose terms end in 2017) has been extended until new elections are held. Of these nine members, five belong to the Congolese Workers Party (PCT), giving it 96 seats in all, and four belong to the Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integrated Development (MCDDI) which did not win parliamentary representation in 2017.

Note 2:

President Sassou-Nguesso, who first seized power in a 1979 coup and became President again in 1997 following a civil war) was constitutionally to be barred from running in the 2016 elections due to the two-term limit stipulated in the 2002 Constitution. A new Constitution was adopted in a referendum in 2015, providing for a three-term limit of a five-year presidency (instead of seven previously) and removing the upper age limit (70 years), paving the way for the incumbent to seek a new term in 2016.
Number of parties winning seats: 19
Percentage of seats won by largest party or coalition: 63.6%
Alternation of power after elections: No

Parties or coalitions winning seats

Parties or coalitions winning seats
Political group	Total	Pool
Congolese Workers Party (PCT)	96	5
Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS)	8	-
Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development (MCDDI)	4	4
Action & Renewal Movement (MAR)	3	-
Rally for Democracy and Social Progress (RDPS)	3	-
Republican Dynamics for Development (DRD)	3	-
Union for a Popular Movement (UMP)	2	-
CRDP	1	-
Citizens' Rally (RC)	1	-
Club 2002 - Party for the Unity of the Republic (PUR)	1	-
Patriotic Front (FP)	1	-
Union of Democratic Forces (UFD)	1	-
La Chaîne	1	-
Movement for Democracy and Progress (MDP)	1
Party for Agreement and Political Action (PCAP)	1	-
Congress for Democracy and the Republic (CDR)	1	-
Party for Unity, Freedom and Progress (Pulp)	1	-
Republican Liberal Party (PRL)	1	-
National Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MNLC)	1	-
Independents	20	-

Members elected, by sex

Number of men elected: 134
Number of women elected: 17
Percentage of women elected: 11.3%
Women Directly Elected: 17
Other notes on the elections: Note on the Distribution of seats

"Pool" refers to the nine members representing the Pool Department whose term has been extended until new elections are held (see note 1).
Sources: National Assembly (23.08.2017, 24.08.2017, 05.09.2017)

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New legislature

Total number of men after the election: 134
Total number of women after the election: 17
Percentage of women after the election: 11.3%
First-term parliamentarians: 87
Percentage of first-term parliamentarians: 57.6%
Date of the first session: 19 Aug 2017

First Speaker of the new legislature

Personal details for the first Speaker of the new legislature: Isidore Mvouba (Male)
Date of birth: 14 Apr 1949
Political party: Congolese Workers Party (PCT)
Date of election: 19 Aug 2017