Congo-Brazzaville - Political Parties
The first president Fulbert Youlou, leader of the Union démocratique pour la Défense des Intérêts africains (UDDIA), was ousted in 1963. His successor was Alphonse Massamba-Débat, the founder of the Mouvement national de la révolution, a Marxist Party which was to be replaced as the state party by the Parti congolais du travail (PCT) of Major Marien Ngouabi in 1969. This change concurred with a shift in control of politics from the Southern region to the North of the country, where Ngouabi was from, creating opposition movements in and around the capital Brazzaville. Ngouabi was assassinated in March 1977.
More than 100 new parties formed (but not all function) since multi-party democracy was introduced in 1990. The largest were the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS), Congolese Labor Party (PCT), Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development (MCDDI), Coalition for Democracy and Social Progress (RDPS), Coalition for Democracy and Development (RDD), Union of Democratic Forces (UFD), Union of Democratic Renewal (URD), Union for Development and Social Progress (UDPS).
The multiparty system is heterogeneous and fragile; the opposition is unable to challenge the government by reason of a lack of resources, organization, personnel, and media coverage, as well as internal friction; the regime of President Denis Sassou-Nguesso co-opted some small opposition groups; and the opposition parties are largely regional and are less present at the national level. The the civic organizations and opposition parties have limited power and that they have influence only if they work within the framework imposed by the regime.
Most of the political parties have an ethnic component. Although some ethnic groups in the Republic of the Congo align themselves with particular politicians, it would be "simplistic" to describe the Congolese political system as divided along ethnic lines. Nevertheless, the Mbochi ethnic group, to which President Sassou-Nguesso belongs, has a dominant political and military presence in the country.
Prominent Personalities
Bernard Kolelas was Mayor of Brazzaville in 1994 and Prime Minister in 1997. A Lari, Kolelas' main support, and that of his Ninja militia, came from the Pool region. The Lari ethnic group comprise a large portion of the Ninjas, but not exclusively so. After defeat in 1997, Kolelas fled to the USA and later Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. In May 2000, he was convicted in absentia of running a private prison, mistreating prisoners and causing their deaths. He was sentenced to death and ordered to pay compensation. Kolelas denied the charges.
Veteran Congolese politicial Bernard Kolelas died 13 November 2009 in Paris. He was 76. Kolelas was a player in the Congolese political arena since the 1960s, holding various positions including Prime Minister, Mayor of Brazzaville, and Secretary of Foreign Affairs, but throughout his political career his ambition to ascend to the highest office in the land always fell short. In the early years after independence, Kolelas was a protege of Fulbert Youlou. After Youlou's fall, Kolelas went into opposition, speaking out against Massamba-Debat's plan to put in place a socialist regime in Congo. At the beginning of the 1990's, with the convening of the National Conference, Kolelas founded the MCDDI, one of the first political parties. Kolelas was not shy in crediting himself with bringing democracy in the Republic of Congo.
Pascal Lissouba formed the Union panafricaine pour la démocratie sociale (UPADS) party in 1991. President from 1992-1997. Ousted by Sassou-Nguesso after losing the 1997 civil war, he fled to the UK. Cocoyes militia is loyal to him, though whether it still existed as a fighting force by 2003 was not known. The Cocoyes stronghold, and Lissouba's, was the Niari, Lekoumou and Bouenza regions. Lissouba is of the Nibolek tribe. Lissouba was convicted of treason in absentia in December 2001 and sentenced to a fine of £23 million and 30 years hard labor.
The Union Panafricaine pour la Democratie Sociale is a political party historically associated with former President Pascal Lissouba. Lissouba himself, however, had been in exile in Paris for many years. By 2009 he was reportedly ill and has been incommunicado for quite some time. It is said that sporadic negotiations were under way for his return to Congo, doubtless in an apolitical role. Much was made of a meeting between Mrs. Sassou-Nguesso and Mrs. Lissouba in December during the first lady's trip to France.
Denis Sassou-Nguesso was President from March 1979 to August 1992 and October 1997 to the present day. Originally a soldier, Sassou-Nguesso came back to power following his victory over the incumbent President Lissouba and Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas in the 1997 civil war. Assisted by the Cobras, a militia loyal to him, and numerous foreign sources, most notably Angolan government troops. Sassou-Nguesso is a member of the Mbochi, a sub-group of the Boulangui ethnic group.
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