Country Election Overview

 (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

Multi-party elections in the DR Congo were held in July 2006, the first multi-party elections in the country since 1960.

The 1960 elections, held in the wake of independence, saw Patrice Lumumba become prime minister and Joseph Kasavubu president. In 1965 Mobutu Sese Seko seized power and declared himself president. He ruled until 1997 when Laurent Kabila seized power after the First Congo War. When Laurent Kabila was killed in 2001, his son Joseph Kabila took over the presidency while the country was going through the Second Congo War (1998-2003). 

The Second Congo War was officially declared over in 2003. The period that followed was relatively peaceful, with the United Nations' largest peacekeeping force maintaining the peace. However, the Ituri Conflict marred the peace, with periods of violence in the northeastern Ituri Province.

In December 2005 a referendum on a new constitution was held. It was approved, paving way for the first multiparty elections in 46 years, which were held in July 2006.

Electoral Systems Snapshot

(Courtesy of International IDEA)

*Click on link for definition

WANT MORE ELECTION-RELATED STATS FOR DR CONGO? Go to "election databases" on the left-hand menu of this page OR comparative data on the right-hand menu and choose your area of interest.

DID YOU KNOW?  Joseph Kabila, the countries president, is the youngest head of state in Africa.

Current President Joseph Kabila

Description of Electoral System

 (courtesy of Wikipedia):

After being for three years (2003-06) in the interregnum between two constitutions, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is now under the regime of the Constitution of the Third Republic. The constitution, adopted by referendum in 2005, and promulgated by President Joseph Kabila in February 2006, establishes a decentralized semi-presidential republic, with a separation of powers between the three branches of government - executive, legislative and judiciary, and a distribution of prerogatives between the central government and the provinces.

DID YOU KNOW?

Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa) shares the same semi-presidential model as France