By other means

President Sassou Nguesso claims a mandate but has restarted the civil war

Congo-Brazzaville's hidden conflict and flawed parliamentary elections show how thin a veneer of democracy covers recycled dictator Denis Sassou Nguesso. The official results from the first round of voting on 26 May awarded an overwhelming triumph to the ruling Parti Congolais du Travail (PCT) and its allies. The opposition parties' results were poor, even where they are usually strong. The elections provide a democratic fig-leaf for Sassou's power, seized when his forces defeated President Pascal Lissouba in the 1997 civil war.

Article Tags:
Denis Sassou Nguesso, Pascal Lissouba, Bernard Kolélas, Jacques Chirac, French, Frédéric Bitsangou, Ntoumi, Angolan, Ninja guerrillas, Russian, Ireland, Mary Robinson, André Milongo, Jacques Joachim Yhombi-Opango, Mathias Dzon, Michel Ngakala, Pierre Oba, Parti Congolais du Travail, Pasteur, Union Panafricaine pour la Démocratie Sociale, Union pour la Démocratie et la République, Mouvement Congolais pour la Démocratie et le Développement Intégral, Rassemblement pour la Démocratie et le Développement, per capita, Haut Commissariat à la Réinsertion des Ex-combattants, Commandance des Unités Spéciales, Opération Portable

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