Parliamentary elections were held in the Republic of the Congo on 24 June 2007, with a second round initially planned for 22 July 2007, but then postponed to 5 August 2007. According to the National Commission of the Organization of the Elections (CONEL), 1,807 candidates stood in the first round for 137 seats in the National Assembly."Congo: ouverture de la campagne du premier tour des élections législatives", AFP, 8 June 2007 . The ruling Congolese Labour Party and parties and independent candidates allied with it won 125 seats, while two opposition parties won a combined 12 seats."Congo: l'alliance présidentielle occupe 125 des 137 sièges parlementaires" , Xinhua, 25 August 2007 .
Background Jean-Pierre Thystère Tchicaya, the President of the National Assembly, and Justin Lekoundzou, the President of the Parliamentary Group of the Presidential Majority, sent a letter to President Denis Sassou Nguesso on 24 March 2007. In this letter, Lekoundzou and Thystère Tchicaya urged the establishment of an independent national electoral commission to oversee the 2007 parliamentary elections."Législatives 2007. Jean-Pierre Thystère Tchicaya et Lekoundzou Itihi Ossetoumba adressent une lettre au Chef de l'Etat" , Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 31 March 2007 ."Les députés se désolidarisent de la démarche de Thystère Tchicaya et Lékoundzou" , La Semaine Africaine, number 2,686, 13 April 2007, page 3 . Coming from two leading members of the Presidential Majority, the letter was a significant gesture of dissent, as it called into question the government's existing efforts to establish an independent electoral commission. In response to the letter, the deputies of the Presidential Majority, led by Alexandre Denguet Atiki, held a meeting in Mpila on 11 April to clarify that they did not endorse the letter. They criticized Lekoundzou and Thystère Tchicaya for acting outside of the parliamentary process and for making a statement that could be misinterpreted as reflecting the broader wishes of the deputies of the Presidential Majority, given their leadership roles."Les députés de la majorité présidentielle désapprouvent la proposition de Jean Pierre Thystere-Tchicaya et Justin Itihi-Ossetoumba Lekoundzou", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 11 April 2007 .
In April the National Assembly approved a bill providing for the creation of an independent electoral commission, but it was not signed into law by Sassou Nguesso in time for the election; as a result, the election was conducted according to older legislation. The opposition criticized this, but it also criticized the bill passed in April on the grounds that the powers of the proposed electoral commission would be too limited."Un collectif de partis d’opposition appelle au boycott des élections législatives", AFP, 27 May 2007 .
Campaign On 23 April 2007, 42 groups of the presidential majority, supporting President Sassou Nguesso, signed an electoral agreement in Brazzaville providing for a common electoral strategy. Parties signing this agreement included Sassou Nguesso's party, the Congolese Labor Party (PCT), as well as Club 2002-Party for the Unity of the Republic, led by Wilfrid Nguesso, the Dynamic for Democracy and Social Progress (DDPS), led by Marcel Mbani, the Union for the Defense of Democracy (UDD), led by Pierre Damien Boussoukou-Boumba, the Republican Pole of Renovators (PRR), and the Party for the Safeguarding of Republican Values (PSVR), led by Michel Mampouya.Roger Ngombé, "42 formations politiques de la majorité présidentielle signent un accord électoral", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, April 24, 2007 .
The PCT and the Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development (MCDDI) of Bernard Kolélas signed an agreement on 24 April to form an alliance for the parliamentary election as well as subsequent local, senatorial, and presidential elections. This marked the official renewal of a previous alliance between the two parties in the early 1990s, which had lapsed later in the decade. A joint technical committee was to oversee the implementation of the agreement."Republic of Congo's parties in political alliance", Xinhua, April 26, 2007.Willy Mbossa & Roger Ngombé, "Le MCDDI et le PCT de nouveau alliés pour gouverner ensemble" , Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, April 24, 2007 .
About 40 opposition parties chose to boycott the election,"Republic of Congo holds election", BBC News, August 5, 2007. seeking a new, independent electoral commission and a later date for the election."Two million Congolese vote Sunday to elect 137 MPs", African Press Agency, June 24, 2007. Parties that said they would participate in the election included the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS) of former President Pascal Lissouba and the Union for Democracy and the Republic (UDR-Mwinda) of former Prime Minister André Milongo."L'ex-rebelle Ntumi refuse de participer aux législatives au Congo", AFP, June 2, 2007 . The Rally for Democracy and Development (RDD) also initially intended to participate, but later, in a statement on 8 June, said that it would not. Emmanuel Ngouolondélé Mongo of the Reflection for a New National Order and Ambroise Hervé Malonga of the Convention of Republicans called for a boycott on May 12, describing the election as a farce."Congolese opposition calls for boycott of legislative poll", African Press Agency, May 13, 2007.
Despite signing an agreement with the government in late April, the National Council of Republicans (CNR), the party of former rebel leader Pasteur Ntumi, later announced that it would not participate in the election due to what it described as a lack of transparency. On 7 June Ntumi said that his party would participate, but on 19 June the CNR demanded that the government delay the election within two days or the party would boycott. It alleged that the organization of the election was not transparent and said that electoral rolls had not yet been posted and that voter cards had not yet been distributed."Législatives au Congo: l'ex-rebelle Ntumi menace à nouveau de se retirer", AFP, June 19, 2007 . Ultimately the CNR participated in the election, putting forward six candidates, including Ntumi. The end of hostilities with Ntumi's "Ninja" rebels enabled the 2007 election to be held fully in the Pool Region; in the previous parliamentary election in 2002, voting did not take place in the eight of the 14 constituencies in the Pool Region due to the activities of Ntumi's rebel group."Congo would-be MPs barred", BBC News, May 28, 2002.
Prior to the vote, the boycotting opposition appealed to the Constitutional Court regarding alleged electoral flaws, seeking to have the election cancelled, but on 22 June the Constitutional Court rejected this and ruled that only candidates could dispute the election.Franz Wild, , VOA News, June 22, 2007."L’opposition congolaise déboutée de ses recours en annulation pour les législatives", African Press Agency, June 22, 2007 .
Campaigning for the election began on June 8 and continued until 22 June."Legislative elections with nothing special at stake in Congo", African Press Agency, June 23, 2007. Although many voters did not receive their voter cards, Armand Baboutila, the Director-General of Electoral Affairs, assured them on June 20 that their voter cards would be available at the polling stations on election day.
Conduct In the first round of the election, held on 24 June, serious problems were reported, including the absence of electoral rolls and voter cards, or errors in them, in some places.John James, "Counting begins in Congo election", BBC News, June 25, 2007."Congo: premier tour des législatives chaotique", AFP, June 25, 2007 . Widespread delays were reported in the opening of polling stations, and turnout was said to be low. The electoral commission said that results would not be available for a week or more. The opposition denounced the election, with Ambroise Hervé Malonga, acting as spokesman for the boycotting opposition parties, calling it "chaos, not an election". The President of CONEL, Henri Bouka, acknowledged problems, but said that they were limited to Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire, the country's two main cities."Législatives chaotiques au Congo: l'opposition confortée dans ses craintes", AFP, June 25, 2007 .
The observer missions of the African Union and the Economic Community of Central African States said in a joint statement on 26 June that, among other shortcomings, polling stations were opened late, electoral materials were often unavailable, voters were often not included on the voter rolls, and many voters did not receive voter registration cards. They also judged voter turnout to be very low. On the other hand, they said that voting was peaceful and without intimidation."Législatives : les observateurs de l'UA et de la CEEAC relèvent des manquements", Xinhua (Jeuneafrique.com), June 26, 2007 .
Minister for Territorial Administration François Ibovi suspended Baboutila, the Director-General of Electoral Affairs, on 28 June accusing him of negligence due to the problems in the election;"Congo: un opposant demande l'annulation du premier tour des législatives", AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), June 29, 2007 ."Top election chief sacked after poll chaos", AFP (IOL), June 28, 2007. Gaston Ololo was appointed in Baboutila's place for the second round. Opposition spokesman Malonga demanded on 29 June that the elections be annulled and that the government, and particularly Ibovi, resign. Malonga said that the suspension of Baboutila was insufficient and that Ibovi and the President of CONEL, Henri Bouka, should have resigned. Roger Bouka of the Congolese Observatory of Human Rights was also sharply critical of irregularities and the failure of voting to take place in some areas, calling for the election to be annulled.
A report by African Union observers said that there were major problems in the second round; among other things, it cited voter list errors, with some names absent and others listed more than once, and "incomplete distribution of the new voter registration cards". The report recommended a number of improvements in the organization of elections."Législative au Congo: "dysfonctionnements" au 1er comme au second tour", AFP, August 9, 2007 .
Results On 30 June results from the Ministry of Territorial Administration showed the ruling PCT winning 23 seats out of the 44 seats declared in the first round"Législatives au Congo: le parti présidentiel largement en tête au 1er tour", AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), June 30, 2007 ."Quarante quatre candidats déclarés élus au premier tour", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, June 30, 2007 . (21 in the north and two in the south"Législatives: le Parti congolais du travail et ses alliés raflent 35 sièges à l'issue du premier tour partiel", Xinhua (Jeuneafrique.com), June 30, 2007 .). Another 12 seats went to its allies: four for the MCDDI, three for the Movement for Action and Revival, two for the Patriotic Union for Democracy and Progress, one for the Movement for Solidarity, one for the Club 2002 PUR, and one for To Act for Congo. Seven seats were won by independent candidates, who were considered to be allies of the ruling party, and two were won by the opposition UPADS. Joseph Kignoumbi Kia Mboungou, the President of the UPADS Parliamentary Group in the outgoing National Assembly, denounced the election as "faked" and said that the voter lists were "totally false".
Results for two additional seats were declared on 1 July: one for UPADS and one for an independent candidate."Le pouvoir congolais invité à annuler les législatives du 24 juin", Panapress (Jeuneafrique.com), July 3, 2007 .