Presidential elections were held in the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

on 10 March 2002. They followed the country's second civil war (1997-1999), which returned

Denis Sassou Nguesso Denis Sassou Nguesso (born 23 November 1943) is a Congolese politician and former military officer. He became president of the Republic of the Congo in 1997. He served a previous term as president from 1979 to 1992. During his first period as p ...

to power, and a subsequent transitional period, in which a new constitution was written and approved by referendum in January 2002. The election lacked meaningful opposition participation, as the main opposition leaders—particularly former President

Pascal Lissouba Pascal Lissouba (15 November 1931 – 24 August 2020) was a Congolese politician who was the first democratically elected President of the Republic of the Congo and served from 31 August 1992 until 25 October 1997. He was overthrown by the form ...

of the

Pan-African Union for Social Democracy The Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (french: Union panafricaine pour la démocratie sociale, UPADS) is a political party in the Republic of the Congo headed by Pascal Lissouba, who was President from 1992 to 1997. It has been the country' ...

(UPADS) and former Prime Minister

Bernard Kolélas Bernard Bakana Kolélas (12 June 1933Alain Kounzilat, , Kimpwanza (planeteafrique.com) . – 13 November 2009Thierry Noungou"Parlement - Bernard Bakana Kolélas décédé ce 13 novembre à Paris", ''Les Dépêches de Brazzaville'', 13 November 2 ...

of the

Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development The Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development (french: Mouvement congolais pour la démocratie et le développement intégral; MCDDI) is a liberal political party in the Republic of the Congo, led by Bernard Kolélas until his de ...

(MCDDI)—were in exile, prevented from returning to Congo by legal convictions and sentences that were handed down ''

in absentia is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent". may also refer to: * Award in absentia * Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body * Election in absen ...

''. The only important opposition figure left to contest the election was former Prime Minister

André Milongo André Ntsatouabantou Milongo (20 October 1935
, lechoc.info . – 23 July 2007) was a

of the Union for Democracy and the Republic (UDR), but he withdrew a few days before the election, claiming that it would be fraudulent. Sassou Nguesso, standing as the candidate of his own

Congolese Labour Party The Congolese Party of Labour (french: Parti congolais du travail, PCT) is the ruling party of the Republic of the Congo. Founded in 1969 by Marien Ngouabi, it was originally a pro-Soviet, Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist vanguard party w ...

(PCT) and a coalition, the

United Democratic Forces The United Democratic Forces ( bg, Обединени Демократични Сили, ОДС/ODS) were a center-right electoral alliance in Bulgaria, led by the Union of Democratic Forces. Members of the coalition 1997 * Union of Democrati ...

(FDU), was overwhelmingly elected, receiving nearly 90% of the vote against a field of minor challengers. He was sworn in on 14 August 2002 in a ceremony at the Palace of Congress in

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...

in the presence of seven other African heads of state.

Results

Provisional results were announced by the Minister of the Interior,

Pierre Oba Pierre Oba (born 17 July 1953) is a Congolese security official who has served in the government of Congo-Brazzaville as Minister of Mines since 2005. During the 1980s, he served successively as Director of Presidential Security and as Director- ...

, on 13 March 2002; final results, which were only slightly different from the provisional results, were proclaimed by the Supreme Court on 29 March. There were 1,733,943 registered voters at the time of the election, 1,295,319 of whom voted. 92,706 votes were invalid, leaving 1,202,611 valid votes. 1,075,247 of those votes went to Sassou Nguesso."La Cour suprême du Congo proclame les résultats définitifs du scrutin présidentiel"
''Les Dépêches de Brazzaville'', 29 March 2002 .

References

{{Republic of the Congo elections Congo

Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

Presidential elections in the Republic of the Congo March 2002 events in Africa