The first round of the presidential election in the Republic of Congo ended peacefully on Sunday with a major event, the emergency evacuation of an opposition candidate with Covid-19 to Paris, France.
In total, 5,700 polling stations were made available to voters (2.5 million) across Congolese territory to fulfill their civic rights. About 60,000 law enforcement officers voted early last Wednesday.
Open around 7 a.m. (6 GMT), the polling stations closed around 6 p.m. (17 GMT).
So far, no figures have been communicated by the authorities on the participation rate. Likewise, there was no information on the date of publication of the first results.
The candidates, seven in number, were able to fulfill their right to vote with the exception of the opponent Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas, evacuated around 3 p.m. local in Paris by a special medical plane which took off from Maya international airport. Maya, reports public television + Télé Congo +.
In addition to outgoing president Denis Sassou N’Guesso, six candidates were selected by the Constitutional Court, namely Mathias Dzon, Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas, Joseph Kignoumbi Kia Mboungou, Albert Oniangué, Anguios Nganguia Engambé and Dave Uphrem Mafoula.
In reaction to the contamination of candidate Guy-Brice Parfait, the outgoing president described the electoral process on leaving the polling station in Brazzaville as “a good sign for democracy”, while wishing “Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas”, a good recovery.
A thousand national observers were deployed on the ground, in addition to thirty representing the African Union (AU), the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) ).
