Congo : Malgré déjà 40 ans au pouvoir, Sassou-Nguesso vise un nouveau mandat
At the head of Congo from 1979 to 1992 and continuously since 1997, Sassou-Nguesso, 82, has been nominated by his party for the presidential election of March 2026
At 82, Denis Sassou-Nguesso has no intention of relinquishing control of the People's Republic of Congo. Having led his country for over four decades combined, the head of state was nominated on Tuesday as his party's candidate for the upcoming presidential election.
He led Congo-Brazzaville under a one-party regime from 1979 to 1992, before being defeated in the first multi-party elections by Pascal Lissouba. He returned to power in 1997 following a civil war, was then elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2009. In 2015, he amended the Constitution to remove the two-term limit for the presidency.
The military is being deployed as reinforcements for the presidential election.
The sixth ordinary congress of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT), held from December 27 to 30, "invested Denis Sassou-Nguesso as candidate for the presidential election of March 2026," declared Antoinette Kebi, second rapporteur of the congress, amid enthusiastic applause.
The presidential election is scheduled for March 22nd. Military voting is planned five days earlier to guarantee public order on election day, a measure already applied in previous elections.
The opposition denounces "a locked system"
Representatives of civil society and the opposition, however, criticized the PCT's decision on Tuesday evening, demanding a change of leadership at the highest level of the state. The president's nomination for his own succession "reflects the logic of a locked-down system, grafted onto a network of corruption and impunity," reacted Trésor Nzila, executive director of the Center for Action for Development (CAD), the main human rights organization in Congo.
For Clément Mierassa, leader of the Congolese Social Democratic Party (PSDC), "by choosing Denis Sassou-Nguesso as their candidate in 2026, the PCT wants to retain power at all costs. This is a sad moment for our country."
In April 2023, three opposition parties without parliamentary representation launched an "Alliance for Democratic Change in 2026". This platform includes the Rally for Democracy and Development (RDD) of former president Jacques Joachim Yhomby Opango, who died in 2020, as well as the Movement of Republicans (MR) and the People's Party (PAPE).
A country rich in oil
A country of about six million inhabitants, rich in oil and forest resources but where the majority live below the poverty line, Congo has seen its elections won by Denis Sassou-Nguesso systematically contested by the opposition since 2002.
Two figures from the opposition to the 2016 presidential election, General Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko and André Okombi Salissa, remain in custody after being sentenced to twenty years in prison for "undermining internal security" in 2018 and 2019. The two men had strongly contested the official victory of Denis Sassou-Nguesso, who was credited with 60% of the vote that time.
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