2017 Republic of the Congo Senate election

2017 Republic of the Congo Senate election
	72 seats in the Senate
André Obami Itou	Pierre Ngolo

Last updated September 18, 2023

Senate elections were held in the Republic of the Congo on 31 August 2017. The Senate was renewed in its entirety for the first time as the result of constitutional reform enacted two years earlier. Previously Senate elections had seen half the members elected.

Background

The elections had taken place one month after the legislative elections, which had seen the victory of the Congolese Party of Labour of president Denis Sassou Nguesso, which retained the majority of seats. As with that election, the senate election had taken place while the Pool Department had been shaken by battles between the forces of order and the militants of Frédéric Bintsamou, also known as Pastor Ntumi, which caused the displacement of millions of people. Thus, the vote only took place in eleven of the twelve departments of the Republic of the Congo.^[1]

Electoral system

The Senate is composed of 72 senators elected for a six-year term using first-past-the-post voting in an indirect election. Six senators are elected for each of the 12 departments.^[2]

The senators are elected by an electoral college composed of departmental and municipal counselors, for about 1,100 electors. Starting from the constitutional revision validated in a 2015 referendum, the Senate is completely renewed in each election. Before that, it had been renewed by half every three years, with the six-year terms staggered on the appropriate half-term.^[2]^[3]^[4]

The senate was initially composed of 66 senators, before switching to 72 during the 2008 elections because of the creation of the Pointe-Noire Department.

Results

The Congolese Party of Labour (PCT) took the majority of seats with 44 seats, even though it only took 24 seats in the previous senate. All departments in the center and north were considered electoral strongholds for President Nguesso. Twelve other seats went to independents and to eight other parties close to the PCT, such as PULP, RDPS, Club 2002, and the PRL [ fr ].^[5] The Pan-African Union for Social Democracy, the principal opposition party, only obtained two seats, down from four before.^[1]

The vote could not happen in the Pool Department. So, the terms for the six senators from that department were extended by the Constitutional Court until there are partial elections, whose date remains to be determined.^[1]


Party		Seats
	Congolese Party of Labour	44
	Pan-African Union for Social Democracy	2
	Action and Renewal Movement	2
	Rally for Democracy and Social Progress	2
	Club 2002 – Party for the Unity and the Republic	1
	Party for Unity, Liberty and Progress	1
	Liberal Republican Party [ fr ]	1
	Patriotic Front [ fr ]	1
	Independents	12
Extended Pool Department senators		6
Total		72

Source: ADIAC^[6]

Among those elected to power was Pierre Ngolo, age 63, the secretary general since 2011.^[1]

Related Research Articles

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The Congolese Party of Labour is the ruling party of the Republic of the Congo. Founded in 1969 by Marien Ngouabi, it was originally a pro-Soviet, Marxist–Leninist vanguard party which founded the People's Republic of the Congo. It took a more moderate left-wing stance following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and adopted social democracy as its principal ideology in 2006. Denis Sassou Nguesso is the President of the PCT Central Committee, and Pierre Moussa is the Secretary-General of the PCT.

The Pan-African Union for Social Democracy is a political party in the Republic of the Congo headed by Pascal Lissouba, who was President from 1992 to 1997. It has been the country's main opposition party since Lissouba's ouster in 1997. Pascal Tsaty-Mabiala has been Secretary-General of UPADS since 2006.

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References

1 2 3 4 5 "Congo-Brazza : le parti de Denis Sassou Nguesso remporte les élections sénatoriales" [Congo-Brazzaville: the party of Denis Sassou Nguesso wins the senatorial elections]. JeuneAfrique.com (in French). 1 September 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
1 2 Douniama, Parfait Wilfried (3 January 2023). "Sénatoriales 2023 : des forces en présence" [Senatorials 2023: forces present]. AGENCE D'INFORMATION D'AFRIQUE CENTRALE (in French). Retrieved 10 August 2023.
↑ "IPU PARLINE database: CONGO (Sénat), Texte intégral" [IPU PARLINE database: CONGO (Senate), Full text]. Inter-Parliamentary Union (in French). Retrieved 10 August 2023.
↑ "Parlement: les grands électeurs appelés à voter les nouveaux sénateurs" [Parliament: big electors called to vote for new senators]. AGENCE D'INFORMATION D'AFRIQUE CENTRALE (in French). 30 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
↑ "Sénatoriales 2017 : la majorité présidentielle rafle tous les sièges de Brazzaville" [Senatorials 2017: the presidential majority takes all the seats of Brazzaville]. CONGO ACTUEL (in French). 31 August 2017. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017.
↑ Koubemba, Jean-Jacques (2 September 2017). "Résultats des élections sénatoriales du 31 juillet 2017" [Results of the senatorial elections on 31 July 2017]. AGENCE D'INFORMATION D'AFRIQUE CENTRALE (in French). Retrieved 10 August 2023.

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[:0-1] 1 2 3 4 5 "Congo-Brazza : le parti de Denis Sassou Nguesso remporte les élections sénatoriales" [Congo-Brazzaville: the party of Denis Sassou Nguesso wins the senatorial elections]. JeuneAfrique.com (in French). 1 September 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2023.

[:1-2] 1 2 Douniama, Parfait Wilfried (3 January 2023). "Sénatoriales 2023 : des forces en présence" [Senatorials 2023: forces present]. AGENCE D'INFORMATION D'AFRIQUE CENTRALE (in French). Retrieved 10 August 2023.

[3] "IPU PARLINE database: CONGO (Sénat), Texte intégral" [IPU PARLINE database: CONGO (Senate), Full text]. Inter-Parliamentary Union (in French). Retrieved 10 August 2023.

[4] "Parlement: les grands électeurs appelés à voter les nouveaux sénateurs" [Parliament: big electors called to vote for new senators]. AGENCE D'INFORMATION D'AFRIQUE CENTRALE (in French). 30 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2023.

[5] "Sénatoriales 2017 : la majorité présidentielle rafle tous les sièges de Brazzaville" [Senatorials 2017: the presidential majority takes all the seats of Brazzaville]. CONGO ACTUEL (in French). 31 August 2017. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017.

[6] Koubemba, Jean-Jacques (2 September 2017). "Résultats des élections sénatoriales du 31 juillet 2017" [Results of the senatorial elections on 31 July 2017]. AGENCE D'INFORMATION D'AFRIQUE CENTRALE (in French). Retrieved 10 August 2023.

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