Government & politics — Republic of the Congo

Named for the Congo River, which makes up much of the country's eastern border; the river name derives from Kongo, a Bantu kingdom that occupied its mouth at the time of Portuguese discovery in the late 15th century and whose name stems from its people the Bakongo, meaning "hunters"

• History: Several previous;
• latest approved by referendum 25 October 2015 Amendments: Proposed by the president of the republic or by Parliament; passage of presidential proposals requires Supreme Court review followed by approval in a referendum; such proposals may also be submitted directly to Parliament, in which case passage requires at least three-quarters majority vote of both houses in joint session; proposals by Parliament require a three-fourths majority vote of both houses in joint session; constitutional articles including those affecting the country’s territory, republican form of government, and secularity of the state are not amendable

• Chief of State: President De
• nis SASSOU-Nguesso (since 25 October 1997) Head of Government: Prime Minister Clement MOUAMBA (since 24 April 2016); note - a constitutional referendum held in 2015 approved the change of the head of gover
• nment from the president to the prime minister (2019) Cabinet: Council o
• f Ministers appointed by the president Elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for 2 additional terms); election last hel
• d on 20 March 2016 (next to be held in 2021) Election results: Denis SASSOU-Nguesso reelected president in the first round; percent of vote - Denis SASSOU-Nguesso (PCT) 60.4%, Guy Price Parfait KOLELAS (MCDDI) 15.1%, Jean-Marie MOKOKO (independent) 13.9%, Pascal Tsaty MABIALA (UPADS) 4.4%, other 6.2%

Description

• bicameral Parliament or Parlement consists of: Senate (72 seats; members indirectly elected by regional councils by simple majority vote to serve 6-year terms with one-half of membership renewed every 3 years)
• National Assembly (151 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed; members serve 5-year terms)
• Elections:
• Senate - last held on 31 August 2017 for expiry of half the seats (next to be held in 2020)
• National Assembly - last held on 16 and 30 July 2017 (next to be held in July 2022)

Election Results

• - Senate - percent of vote by party - NA
• seats by party - PCT 46, independent 12, MAR 2, RDPS 2, UPADS 2, DRD 1, FP 1, MCDDI 1, PRL 1, Pulp 1, PUR 1, RC 1;
• composition - men 58, women 14, percent of women 19.4%
• National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PCT 96, UPADS 8, MCDDI 4, other 23 (less than 4 seats) independent 20;

Composition

men 134, women 17, percent of women 11.3%;

Note

total Parliament percent of women 13.9%

• Highest court(s): Supreme Court or Cour Supreme (consists of NA judges); Constitutional Court (consists of 9 members); note - a High Court of Justice, outside the judicial authority, tries cases involving treason by the
• president of the republic Judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges elected by Parliament and serve until age 65; Constitutional Court members appointed by the president of the republic - 3 directly by the president and 6 nominated by Parliament; members appointed for renewable 9-year terms with one-thi
• rd of the membership renewed every 3 years Subordinate courts: Court of Audit and Budgetary Discipline; courts of appeal; regional and district courts; employment tribunals; juvenile courts

• Action Movement for Renewal or MAR [Roland BOUITI-VIAUDO]
• Citizen's Rally or RC [Claude Alphonse NSILOU]
• Congolese Labour Party or PCT [Denis SASSOU-NGUESSO]
• Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development or MCDDI [Guy Price Parfait KOLELAS]
• Movement for Unity, Solidarity, and Work or MUST [Claudine MUNARI]
• Pan-African Union for Social Development or UPADS [Pascal Tsaty MABIALA]
• Party for the Unity of the Republic or PUR Patriotic Union for Democracy and Progress or UPDP [Auguste-Celestin GONGARD NKOUA]
• Prospects and Realities Club or CPR Rally for Democracy and Social Progress or RDPS [Bernard BATCHI]
• Rally of the Presidential Majority or RMP Republican and Liberal Party or PRL [Bonaventure MIZIDY]
• Union for the Republic or UR Union of Democratic Forces or UDF Union for Democracy and Republic or UDR many smaller parties

• Citizenship by descent only: At least one parent must be a cit
• No Residency requirement for naturalization: 10 years

ACP, AfDB, AU, BDEAC, CEMAC, EITI (compliant country), FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NAM, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Chief of Mission

Ambassador Todd P. HASKELL (since July 2017) Embassy: 70-83 Section D, Maya-Maya Boulevard, Brazzaville Mailing Address: B.P. 1015, Brazzaville

Telephone

[242] 06 612-2000

Chief of Mission

Ambassador Serge MOMBOULI (since 31 July 2001)

Chancery

1720 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009

Telephone

[1] (202) 726-5500

FAX

[1] (202) 726-1860