General elections were held in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

between 18 March and 30 April 1965, following the promulgation of a new constitution approved by a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

the previous year. 223 political parties contested the election for 167 seats in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

.DRC: Electoral Operation of the 1965 election
EISA The elections were won by parties allied with the

Congolese National Convention The Congolese National Convention (french: Convention Nationale Congolaise), also known as CONACO, was a federalist political alliance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was formed and led by then Prime Minister, Moïse Tshombe. It consist ...

, led by former secessionist leader

Moise Tshombe Moise is a given name and surname, with differing spellings in its French and Romanian origins, both of which originate from the name Moses: Moïse is the French spelling of Moses, while Moise is the Romanian spelling. As a surname, Moisè and Mo ...

, which won a total of 80 seats.Nohlen, D, Krennerich, M & Thibaut, B (1999) ''Elections in Africa: A data handbook'', p292 Following the elections, the results were disputed by several parties. The Léopoldville Court of Appeal accepted six of them, and re-runs were required in Kivu Central, Goma-Rutshuru, Cuvette Centrale, Fizi, Kwilu and Maniema, which were held between 8 and 22 August 1965. Despite Tshombe's party winning the election, President

Joseph Kasa-Vubu Joseph Kasa-Vubu, alternatively Joseph Kasavubu, ( – 24 March 1969) was a Congolese politician who served as the first President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Republic of the Congo) from 1960 until 1965. A member of the Kong ...

appointed

Évariste Kimba Évariste Leon Kimba Mutombo (16 July 1926 – 2 June 1966) was a Congolese journalist and politician who served as Foreign Minister of the State of Katanga from 1960 to 1963 and Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 13 Oct ...

of the

Congolese Democratic Front The Congolese Democratic Front (french: Front démocratique congolais, FDC) was a political party in Moyen-Congo. The party was founded by Emmanuel Dadet after he left the Congolese Progressive Party The Congolese Progressive Party (french: Parti ...

Prime Minister, a situation which ultimately led to

Joseph Mobutu Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...

carrying out a

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...

in November. By the next election in 1970, Mobutu had eliminated all opposition parties, allowing his

Popular Movement of the Revolution The Popular Movement of the Revolution (french: Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution, abbr. MPR) was the ruling political party in Zaire (known for part of its existence as the Democratic Republic of the Congo). For most of its existence, it wa ...

to run unopposed. As a result, the 1965 election would be the last in which opposition parties were allowed to participate until

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Results

References

{{Democratic Republic of the Congo elections

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 1965 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Election and referendum articles with incomplete results