The election promises to be tight as key opposition leaders are determined to oust Sassou Nguesso.
The nine candidates in the first round of Congo’s presidential election of March 20 are hustling and bustling on the field during the last week of campaigns to win the poll.
The election promises to be a tight race considering the caliber of candidates. Incumbent President Denis Sassou Nguesso will be standing for the election thanks the referendum of 2015 that permitted him to stand for re-election after he had already exhausted the two-term limit imposed by the previous constitution.
Sassou Nguesso will face Pascal Tsaty Mabiala, the candidate of the main opposition party, Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS). Other key opposition candidates include André Okombi Salissa of the Initiative for Democracy in Congo and General Jean- Marie Michel Mokoko, who was the Special Representative of the African Union Commission in the Central African Republic. Also in the presidential race are Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas, Claudine Munari, Joseph Kignoumbi Kia Mboungou, Joseph Mboussi Ngouari and Louis Parfait Tchignamba Mavoungou.
Ahead of the election, government on January 14, 2016 adopted a law creating a the Independent National Election Commission to replace the National Commission for the Organisation of Elections. The opposition has on its part also created a technical Commission for elections to try to curb fraud in polling stations.
