Political Pluralism and Participation in Republic of the Congo – World Countries for Kids

Political groupings exist in Republic of the Congo, but the government represses those not aligned with the ruling Congolese Labor Party (PCT), including by persecuting their leaders. President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s two most prominent opponents in the 2016 presidential election, André Okombi Salissa and retired general Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko, received prison terms after the election. In the year 2018, Mokoko was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment for threatening state security. In the year 2019, Salissa was sentenced to 20 years of forced labor for the very same charge.

Private campaign contributions are forbidden, leaving opposition parties and candidates dependent on inadequate public financing. Political parties are sometimes deprived of registration without reason. In the year 2020, the government suspended a whole lot of parties, including United for Congo (UPC), excluding them from the list of approved parties.

There is insignificant opportunity for the opposition to win power via elections, and opposition leaders often experience intimidation, harassment, and arrest. During the 2016 presidential contest, opposition candidates Mokoko and Salissa were constantly harassed, and both were later on imprisoned.

The Sassou Nguesso administration consistently uses military and police forces to scare citizens. When hiring and making other employment-related decisions, employers discriminate on the basis of political beliefs.

Even though there are no legal constraints on political participation by gender, sexual identity, religion, or ethnic group, members of Sassou Nguesso’s northern Mbochi ethnic group occupy important government posts. Representatives from other ethnic and regional groups have limited capacity to shape policy. The government regularly suppresses political parties that draw backing from Congo’s southern regions, which have long opposed Sassou Nguesso.

Women, whose political participation is restricted by societal constraints, are underrepresented in administration. Women got only 25 National Assembly seats in the 2022 elections; post the August 2023 elections they held 22 Senate seats. Evelyne Tchitchelle of the Congolese Labor Party (PCT) became the nation’s first female mayor when she was elected in Pointe-Noire in 2022.

Repercussions of such restrictions on governance

Government policy is set exclusively by the President. There is little oversight from the parliament, which is controlled by the ruling PCT and shields the executive from accountability. Corruption is widespread, and domestic prosecutions for corruption are often politically inspired. Sassou Nguesso’s family has long been facing credible allegations of corruption. The president’s family and advisers control SNPC (the state-run National Petroleum Company of Congo) sans meaningful oversight, and offshore companies are reportedly used to embezzle SNPC funds.