Congo leader claims landslide win as opposition protests

Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguessou talks to the media after voting on October 25, 2015. The Congolese government has claimed a landslide victory on Tuesday in a controversial referendum over a bid by President Denis Sassou Nguesso to extend his 31-year rule but the opposition swiftly branded the result fraudulent. PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Official results put turnout at a high 72.4 per cent, though Congolese opposition leader Clement Mierassa branded the claim “extremely scandalous”.
  • “The Congolese refused to vote,” said Pascal Tsaty Mabiala of the country’s biggest parliamentary opposition party, the UPADS.
  • Congo is one of several African countries currently facing the critical question of whether heads of state should be allowed to run beyond two terms in office.
  • The constitution stipulates a maximum age of 70 for presidential candidates and limits the number of terms to two.

BRAZZAVILLE, Tuesday

The Congolese government claimed a landslide victory on Tuesday in a controversial referendum over a bid by President Denis Sassou Nguesso to extend his 31-year rule but the opposition swiftly branded the result fraudulent.

A total of 92.3 per cent of people voting in the central African country’s weekend referendum to enable Sassou Nguesso to run for office approved the constitutional change, which has now been adopted, Interior Minister Raymond Mboulou said.

“The draft text of the new constitution has been adopted and will come into force as soon as it is put into effect by the President of the Republic,” Mr Mboulou said.

Official results put turnout at a high 72.4 per cent, though Congolese opposition leader Clement Mierassa branded the claim “extremely scandalous”.

RIGGED REFERENDUM
“It shows bad faith and dishonesty. The results were fixed,” said Mr Mierassa, who heads the Congolese Social Democratic Party and is a leading member of an alliance that had called for a boycott of Sunday’s referendum.

“From what we could see on the day of the vote, the announcement that turnout was more than 72 per cent is extremely scandalous,” Mr Mierassa told AFP, branding the results a “fraud”.

Another opposition leader had on Monday told AFP that only 10 percent of Congolese voted.

“The Congolese refused to vote,” said Pascal Tsaty Mabiala of the country’s biggest parliamentary opposition party, the UPADS.

According to AFP journalists in the capital Brazzaville, second city Pointe-Noire and several other areas, people had largely stayed away from voting offices on the day.

There were however long queues of voters near the presidential palace where Sassou Nguesso, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, cast his own ballot.

CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES

The referendum, whose results had initially been expected Wednesday night, proposed two changes to the constitution, which had until now disqualified Mr Sassou Nguesso, 71, from running for re-election in 2016.

The constitution stipulates a maximum age of 70 for presidential candidates and limits the number of terms to two.

Sassou Nguesso is over the age limit and has already served two consecutive seven-year terms.

After beginning his career in the military, he took power in 1979 and has been in office ever since, except for a five-year period.
Congo was rocked by protests in the run-up to the vote, including clashes Tuesday between opposition demonstrators and security forces in Brazzaville and economic hub Pointe-Noire that authorities say left four people dead.

But opposition leader Paul-Marie Mpouele claimed Friday that at least 20 people had died in the unrest, which stoked memories of the civil war that ravaged the country from 1993 to 2003.

On Tuesday, the Internet, text messaging services and French radio RFI’s popular FM signal, were all cut for the eighth day running.

AFRICA'S LONGEST-SERVING LEADERS

Meanwhile, here is a list of Africa’s longest-serving leaders:

  1. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Equatorial Guinea, 36 years, came to power in a coup on August 3, 1979.
  2. Jose Eduardo dos Santos, Angola 36 years, in power since September 20, 1979.
  3. Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe, 35 years. Mr Mugabe became prime minister in April 1980 and president in 1987.
  4. Paul Biya, Cameroon, 32 years, came to power on November 6, 1982.
  5. Yoweri Museveni, Uganda, 29 years. Took office in January 1986 after winning bush war.
  6. King Mswati III, Swaziland 29 years, acceded to the throne of the tiny southern African kingdom in April 1986.
  7. Omar al-Bashir, Sudan, 26 years. Has ruled since he seized power in a coup in June 1989.
  8. Idriss Deby, Chad, 25 years, he emerged as the leader of the arid north-central African state in December 1990, after the war which ousted the regime of Hissène Habré.

Congo is one of several African countries currently facing the critical question of whether heads of state should be allowed to run beyond two terms in office.

A French diplomatic source in Paris on Monday said he believed turnout for the constitutional referendum had been low, warning that the country was now “entering a difficult phase”, in which it would be critical to “keep the peace, save lives and find a consensus”.