After numerous postponements, landmark parliamentary elections were held on 30 July 2006 in parallel with presidential elections to replace the transitional power-sharing institutions set up in 2003. They were the first multiparty elections to be held in more than forty years.
Mr. Joseph Kabila Kabange became President after his father, Mr. Laurent Kabila, was assassinated in January 2001. Under his presidency, numerous economic reforms were implemented in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), including liberalization of petroleum prices and the exchange rate and the adoption of new fiscal and monetary policies. Inflation dropped from more than 500 per cent to seven per cent, and the GDP growth rate surpassed five per cent in 2005.
In the 2006 elections, 9,709 candidates contested 500 National Assembly seats and 33 presidential candidates stood for elections. President Kabila led a coalition comprising 30 parties called the Alliance for the Presidential Majority (AMP). The coalition pledged to rebuild the country and promote national reconciliation. His main rival, Mr. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, the outgoing Vice-President in charge of the economy and finance, led the Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC), as part of the Union for the Nation (UN) alliance. He called on voters' support for his plans to reform governmental institutions and improve governance. Another Vice-President, Mr. Azarias Manywa Ruberwa, led the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD), that also pledged to establish good governance. The Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), led by veteran opposition figure Mr. Etienne Tshisekedi, had announced in April 2006 that it would boycott the polls, claiming a lack of transparency.
During the electoral campaign, violence continued in the eastern provinces bordering Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. Some sporadic violent incidents were also reported involving opposition supporters and the Congolese police.
Approximately 25.4 million people were registered to vote.
More than 1,300 international observers, including 300 from the European Union Electoral Observer Mission in the DRC (EU EOM), monitored the polls. A total of 17,000 troops from the United Nations Observer Mission (Monuc) and 2,000 European Union forces were deployed to ensure peaceful voting.
The EU EOM praised the high level of participation among citizens as well as the electoral commission's efforts to overcome the huge logistical challenges to the elections. It however noted weaknesses in the civic education programmes for voters.
Presidential election results were announced on 21 August 2006. President Kabila came in first with 44.81 per cent of the votes, followed by Mr. Jean- Bemba with 20.03 per cent. Five people were reportedly killed in Kinshasa prior to the announcement following exchanges of gunfire between supporters of both sides.
On 8 September, the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) published official preliminary results for the parliamentary elections. The People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD), a main party of the AMP alliance, came in first with 111 seats. The AMP reportedly won around 200 seats. The main opposition MLC, led by Mr. Bemba, won 64 seats. Together with its allies, his camp reportedly secured around 100 seats. The RCD won 15 seats.
The newly-elected National Assembly held its first session on 22 September, under the presidency of its most senior member, Mr. Joseph Mbenza Thubi.
In the run-off presidential election on 29 October, President Kabila won 58 per cent of the votes. Mr. Bemba's challenge to the election results was rejected by the Supreme Court on 28 November, and he subsequently accepted defeat. On 6 December, Mr. Kabila was sworn in as President, becoming the first freely-elected president in more than four decades.
Mr. Vital Kamerhe, the Secretary General of the PPRD, was elected as Speaker of the National Assembly on 28 December. He was sworn in on 9 January 2007.
Indirect elections for the 108-member Senate were held on 21 January. The newly-elected Senate was convened on 3 February. The composition of the Government was announced on 5 February, headed by a Prime Minister, Mr. Antoine Gizenga, and comprising six senior ministers, 34 ministers and 20 deputy ministers.
The re-establishment of both chambers of Parliament and the formation of a new Government marked the end of the political transition process initiated in 2002.
Note:
A new Speaker of the Senate is expected to be elected in April 2007 after the adoption of new rules of procedure. |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
