As Congolese President Dennis Sassou Nguesso arrives at his polling station in Brazzaville, he receives a round of applause.
Mr. Nguesso voted in the country’s presidential election on Sunday morning. The 77-year-old, who has been in power for 36-years, seeks re-election to a fourth term.
“If this gets through to the end, we might say that our democracy, which is in its early stages, could be said to be in good health,” he says.
There are six other presidential candidates in Sunday’s election. Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas, notably Mr. Nguesso’s primary challenger, is, however, hospitalized. His team says Kolelas may be flown to France to treat Covid. On Friday, from his hospital bed, Kolelas urged supporters to vote for change. “I ask you to please stand up and go and vote for change.”
Mathias Dzon, a former finance minister, is another strong contender. Dzon is the Alliance for the Republic and Democracy’s presidential candidate (ARD).
“What are my first impressions?” It’s because there aren’t many people who come to this voting station. I’m not sure why, but it must be due to the circumstances in which the elections were held. I live in the neighborhood, and I found no one in the community had a voter registration card. They tried to deliver them to my home this morning merely because I contacted the independent electoral commission president.
According to Africanews journalist Cedric Sehossolo, voter turnout is low, with a significant disparity between turnout during election campaigns.
“Indeed, we are a long way from the long lines seen on March 17 during the police officer election. Today’s voters are nervous, and some are having trouble finding their names on the electoral lists or register. Election officials ensure that no one leaves without voting, but polls opened late, at 9 a.m. rather than 7 a.m. We also observed a hesitant presence of observers and delegates from the candidates.”
According to Sehosollo, Congo was cut off from the rest of the world due to an internet outage, similar to the 2016 elections. However, he adds that voting has been mostly peaceful in most parts of the country.
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