Parliamentary 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 ...

on 15 November 1970. They were the first parliamentary elections held since

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 ...

seized power in a coup five years earlier. Voters were presented with a single list from President Mobutu's party, the

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 ...

(MPR). They only had the choice of voting "yes" or "no" to the list of 420 candidates for the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

, who had been chosen from 2,500 applicants at the MPR's congress on 19 September 1970. Although a constitution enacted earlier that year allowed for the existence of a second party, the MPR was the only party allowed to put up candidates.

Presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pr ...

had been held earlier in the month under similar conditions, with voters only having the option of voting "yes" or "no" to Mobutu's candidacy. Over 99% of those casting valid votes approved the MPR list. However, the MPR list received considerably less support than Mobutu had received in the presidential election. Whilst only 157 people voted to reject Mobutu's candidacy out of over 10.1 million votes cast, 72,300 people rejected the MPR list, while another 91,000 cast blank or spoiled ballots. A month after the elections, the MPR was formally declared the only party legally permitted to function in the country. with Law 70-001 of 23 December 1970 amending the text of article 4 of the constitution to state that "The Popular Movement of the Revolution is the sole political party of the Republic" (''Le Mouvement populaire de la révolution est le seul parti politique de la République.'').Loi n° 70-001 du 23 décembre 1970 portant révison de la Constitution
Digithèque MJP However, the country had effectively been a single-party state since the MPR's formation in 1967. The country was renamed

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

a year later, and the MPR remained the only legal party until 1990.

Results

References

{{Democratic Republic of the Congo elections Congo Elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo One-party elections Single-candidate elections