Congo President Joseph Kabila's party loses seats: results

GlobalPost

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s ruling party lost more than 40 percent of its parliamentary seats in fall elections but will remain the largest bloc in parliament, according to belatedly released results from disputed November polls.

The country’s discredited electoral commission announced the figures on Thursday, stating that President Joseph Kabila’s People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) and its coalition partners had secured an absolute majority of around 260 seats in the 500-seat National Assembly.

The PPRD won 63 seats in the polls held on November 28, down from 111 after the previous legislative elections in 2006, Reuters reported.

More from GlobalPost: Congo election - President Kabila wins again

The presidential and legislative elections were held on the same day. According to the Associated Press, presidential results showed Kabila winning 100 percent of the votes at some polling stations, and securing the support of more than 100 percent of registered voters casting their ballots at other stations.

“The results of these elections took a long time, but it was to ensure their overall transparency,” election commission chief Daniel Ngoy Mulunda said.

The outcome could weaken Kabila’s control over the central African country and make it harder for him to pass legislation and constitutional reforms to further consolidate his position.

According to today’s results, opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi’s Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), which boycotted the 2006 elections, came second to the PPRD with 41 seats, Al Jazeera reported.

Tshisekedi has dismissed the November polls as “rubbish” and proclaimed himself president. His call for a nationwide strike this week had mixed success, with Congo’s capital Kinshasa bustling along as usual.

More from GlobalPost: Etienne Tshisekedi's call for nationwide strike ignored in capital Kinshasa

Sign up for our daily newsletter

Sign up for The Top of the World, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.