2nd round of legislative elections in Congo-B: Early voting for the army.

The defence and security forces went to the polls on Tuesday for the second round of legislative elections on 31 July. The Electoral Commission did not report any incidents during this early voting. For the Congolese Labour Party (PCT), these electoral challenges are only a formality, as it won 102 of the 151 seats in the assembly in the first round.

All dressed in camouflage, wearing their berets and with military discipline, the voters performed their civic duty on Tuesday 26 July 2022. The operations were not disrupted in the 25 constituencies concerned, except for a slight delay in the constituency of Tchiamba Nzassi near Pointe-Noire, the economic capital.

According to one electoral officer who requested anonymity, voting did not start at 7am as required by the electoral law. “The poll was opened at 8.45 am. The military arrive timidly because it is not a day of dead town. It is an open day. There are soldiers living in the barracks. You will find that they will arrive around 12 or 1pm en masse ”.

Almost all polling stations closed at 18:00 local time. The ballot boxes are sealed and the compilation will only take place after the general vote on 31 July.

The defence and security forces are among the more than 2.9 million voters in the Republic of Congo-Brazzaville. But the first round of the legislative elections was marked by a high abstention rate.

The PCT, the ruling party, has 14 candidates in the 25 constituencies. It had already won 102 of the 151 seats in the lower house of parliament in the first round on 10 July.

A look back at the results of the first round of the legislative elections.

With 103 deputies elected in the first round, the Congolese Labour Party (PCT) won the election, far outstripping the Movement for Action and Renewal (MAR) and the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (Upads) with four deputies each. The Union of Humanist Democrats (UDH-Yuki) won three seats, including one in Kinkala 2, in the Pool department, and two in Brazzaville (Bacongo 1 and Madibou). The Democracy and Social Progress Rally and the Club 2002, Unity and Republic Party each obtained two deputies.