(3 minutes read)
· Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso (77) will face seven challengers in a March 21 election, though the main opposition party reported to be boycotting the election
· The election procedure is such that candidates’ names will have to be sent to the constitutional court for validation
· The Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS) said that they will be boycotting the polls
Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso (77) will face seven challengers in a March 21 election, though the main opposition party reported to be boycotting the election. Sassou Nguesso, who ruled for 36 years in total, among others, will face Mathias Dzon, a 73-year-old former finance minister and Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas, 60. Kolelas was runner-up to Sassou Nguesso in 2016. His father Bernard was briefly Congo’s prime minister in 1997 during the country’s civil war,
The election procedure is such that candidates’ names will have to be sent to the constitutional court for validation. Kolelas is backed by his own political party- the Union of Humanist Democrats (UDH)-which is the country’s largest opposition group. The Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS) said that they will be boycotting the polls.
This will be Sassou Nguesso’s fourth term if he wins the election. He is a retired general who first ruled between 1979 and 1992 before returning at the end of the civil war in 1997. His victory in 2016 was marred by bloodshed and claims of fraud, with two of his opponents, Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko and Andre Okombi Salissa, disputing the results. They were arrested, put on trial and each handed 20 years in jail on charges of undermining state security, as reported by www.trendsnafrica.com earlier.
Importantly, Congo’s Catholic Church, the predominant sect, has “serious reservations” about the elections. It has recently highlighted coronavirus restrictions and a shaky electoral system. These, Church believes, could undermine confidence in the vote.
