The ruling Congolais Labour Party (PCT) on Monday nominated incumbent President as its candidate for the March 20 election.

Opposition candidates in the March 20, 2016 presidential election in Congo have to work hard as they will once more face incumbent President Denis Sassou  Nguesso  who will be seeking the third term in the race for the presidency.

The Secretary General of his ruling Congolais Labour Party (PCT),  Pierre Ngolo said in a  press release that  by nominating Sassou Nguesso who did not even present his candidature as the flag bearer of the party for the presidential election, the PCT Central Committee members stated their total trust in him  and stated that they made  the best choice. He said the choice was because Congolais  consider President Sassou Nguesso as the person who could handle the current situation both in Congo and the Central African Sub-region.

Candidates of the opposition parties will face a prepared Sassou Nguesso who had also received a financial boost for the  presidential re-election bid  from the grassroots structures of the ruling party in the capital Brazzaville.  In order to encourage Mr Sassou Nguesso to  stand as their candidate for the March 20 presidential election, PCT  supporters in Brazzaville raised FCFA 46 millions as part of their contribution  to his campaign and subsequent re-election, the Chinese news agency (Xinhua) said.

Before the ruling party nominated incumbent Sassou Nguesso its candidate,  the lone opposition candidate already nominated was Joseph Kignoumbi Kia-Mboungou. He is a Member of Parliament of the Pan African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS), the leading opposition party in the National Assembly. He plans to stand as an independent candidate just as he did in the 2002 and 2009 presidential elections in which he occupied the second position.

As other opposition parties and platforms brace up to nominate their candidates for the poll,  the candidature of Sassou Nguesso was no surprise to them. Clément Miérassa, President of the Congolais Social Democratic Party (PSDC)  said Sassou Nguesso changed the constitution last September in order to remain in power. He said the announcement of  Mr Nguesso’s nomination was a surprise to nobody.