Denis Sassou Nguesso has once again been elected President of the Republic of the Congo. According to provisional results, En Giosu has received 88.57 percent of the vote. 77-year-old Ann Gyosu has been in power for the last 36 years. He first assumed power in 1979. After this, N Giosu was defeated in 1992, but after that he returned to power again in 1997 and since then he is the President of the country.
The country’s home minister announced the election results citing the Electoral Commission. After the boycott of the ballot by the opposition on 20 March, En Giosu’s victory was considered almost certain. The Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS) said in January that it would not field candidates in Sunday’s vote. The party said that the conditions were not favorable for conducting elections and this would lead to more divisions in the country.
There is no freedom to speak in the country
The situation in the Republic of Congo is very bad. Human rights activists say that there is no freedom of speech in the country and there is no possibility of any democratic process happening in the first place. This time, the election also faded because Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas, the main competitor of En Gyosu, died from Corona just before the election.
En Gyosu has remained in power by changing the constitution
Denis Sasu en Gyosu regained power in 1997 after a prolonged civil war in the Congo. He was elected once again in the elections held in 2002 and the same continued in 2009. This was going to be his last term. But in 2015, he changed the constitution. Under this, the ban on a person who is more than 70 years of becoming the President was removed. He also removed the rule of not becoming president further after two seven-year terms and instead made a new rule to become president for three consecutive years for five years.
The country’s economy is collapsed
The Congo economy has been facing a crisis since the fall in oil prices in 2014. The debt on the country is constantly increasing and the Coronavirus epidemic has increased the problem more. The economy grew by more than 8 percent last year. But this year it is expected to grow by less than one percent. Because of this, there is going to be a challenge to take the country on the right economic path on En Gyosu.
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