Congolese Party of Labour
Encyclopedia
The Congolese Party of Labour (French
: Parti congolais du travail, PCT), founded in 1969 by Marien Ngouabi
, is the ruling political party
of the Republic of the Congo
. It was originally a Marxist-Leninist
pro-Soviet
party, which founded the People's Republic of the Congo
, but moved towards a moderate left wing stance in the early 1990s.
-style socialist party-state
, it was essentially a military regime with a strongly ethno-regional character. Members of the southern ethnic groups, who were far more numerous than northerners, were included in the power structure, but the top leaders were consistently northerners.
Ideologically, the party represented a spectrum of Marxist-Leninist views and suffered from internecine struggles in the 1970s, which sometimes turned violent. Some leaders on the left-wing of the party, such as Ange Diawara
and Claude-Ernest Ndalla
, favored a radical pro-Chinese
position; they unsuccessfully attempted a coup d'etat against Ngouabi in February 1972. The right-wing of the party, which was derided as having only a superficial commitment to Marxism-Leninism, was represented by Joachim Yhombi Opango; the 1972 plot was inspired by the left-wing's loathing for Yhombi Opango.
Ngouabi was assassinated under unclear circumstances in March 1977, and Yhombi Opango succeeded him. However, Yhombi Opango's opponents in the PCT were angered by his rightist "deviationism
" and perceived marginalization of the party, and they ousted him in a February 1979 technical coup, installing Denis Sassou Nguesso
—another career officer from the north—in power. The elevation of Sassou Nguesso, who represented the PCT's left-wing, marked a return to party orthodoxy. Nevertheless, Sassou Nguesso was neither a radical leftist nor an ideologue; his policies were generally marked by pragmatism, and he sought warm relations with the West as well as the Eastern Bloc
.
As Sassou Nguesso consolidated power, PCT factionalism was less pronounced during the 1980s, although internal power struggles continued. Jean-Pierre Thystère Tchicaya
, a leftist ideologue who was one of the PCT's top-ranking leaders, was accused of organizing a bomb plot and removed from the leadership at the 1984 party congress. A powerful faction in the party, led by François-Xavier Katali, favored a hard-line pro-Soviet
position; Sassou Nguesso was able to marginalize the Katali faction at the 1984 congress. Katali was demoted to a minor government ministry, but suffered no further punishment; when he died of a heart attack in 1986, he was considered a national hero.
Serious unrest in 1990 resulted in the collapse of the PCT regime. Sassou Nguesso was forced to introduce multi-party politics in 1990 and then call a National Conference in 1991. The National Conference saw severe criticism of Sassou Nguesso and repudiated PCT rule; it set up a non-PCT transitional government and reduced Sassou Nguesso to figurehead status.
. Although Marxist-Leninist ideology was abandoned, the party remained loyal to Sassou Nguesso and it continued to be dominated by key figures from the single-party era. Sassou Nguesso ultimately returned to power in the June–October 1997 civil war.
The PCT is essentially non-ideological today and is simply based around support for President Sassou Nguesso and his development policies. Although it has varying levels of support across the country, its key support base remains the north; in some northern districts, support for the PCT is so overwhelming that its parliamentary candidates win "Soviet-style" scores approaching 100% of the vote.
Denis Sassou Nguesso, presidential candidate of both the PCT and the United Democratic Forces
coalition, won the March 2002 presidential election
with 89.4% of the vote; there were no serious opposition candidates. The PCT won 53 out of 137 seats in the National Assembly in the May–June 2002 parliamentary election
; together with smaller, allied parties, it held a parliamentary majority.
At the party's Fifth Extraordinary Congress in December 2006, Sassou-Nguesso was re-elected as President of the Central Committee of the PCT and Ambroise Noumazalaye
was re-elected as Secretary-General of the PCT; the Central Committee elected at the 2006 congress included more than 500 members (there were previously less than 150 members), while the Political Bureau elected on the same occasion included more than 60 members and the Permanent Secretariat included 15 members.
The political landscape in Congo-Brazzaville has been highly fractured since the early 1990s. In an effort to consolidate support for Sassou Nguesso, an initiative to "refound" the PCT as a broader party was attempted in 2006. Although backed by Secretary-General Noumazalaye, the effort encountered firm opposition from PCT "conservatives", led by Justin Lekoundzou
, who wanted to preserve the PCT as a distinct party.
Noumazalaye died in November 2007, and Prime Minister Isidore Mvouba
became Interim Secretary-General of the PCT.
In the parliamentary election
held on June 24 and August 5, 2007, the PCT won 46 seats; although it was again the largest party, the fractionalization of the political landscape ensured that it fell well short of a parliamentary majority. However, the combined parties of the Presidential Majority supporting Sassou Nguesso won an overwhelming majority: 125 out of 137 seats. After the election, a large grouping of parties, including the PCT, was launched in December 2007: the Rally of the Presidential Majority (RMP). While the member parties of the RMP preserved their distinct identities, the grouping provided for some degree of consolidation and improved organization among Sassou Nguesso's supporters. In the 2008 local elections, the RMP parties ran joint candidate lists.
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
: Parti congolais du travail, PCT), founded in 1969 by Marien Ngouabi
Marien Ngouabi
Marien Ngouabi was the military President of the Republic of the Congo from January 1, 1969 to March 18, 1977.-Origins:...
, is the ruling political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
of the Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo , sometimes known locally as Congo-Brazzaville, is a state in Central Africa. It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda, and the Gulf of Guinea.The region was dominated by...
. It was originally a Marxist-Leninist
Marxism-Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...
pro-Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
party, which founded the People's Republic of the Congo
People's Republic of the Congo
The People's Republic of the Congo was a self-declared Marxist-Leninist socialist state that was established in 1970 in the Republic of the Congo...
, but moved towards a moderate left wing stance in the early 1990s.
Single-party rule
The PCT was founded by President Ngouabi in December 1969 and was Congo-Brazzaville's sole ruling party from the moment of its creation. From the outset, it was heavily dominated by military officers from the sparsely populated north of Congo-Brazzaville. Although the PCT regime was designed as a SovietSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
-style socialist party-state
Single-party state
A single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a type of party system government in which a single political party forms the government and no other parties are permitted to run candidates for election...
, it was essentially a military regime with a strongly ethno-regional character. Members of the southern ethnic groups, who were far more numerous than northerners, were included in the power structure, but the top leaders were consistently northerners.
Ideologically, the party represented a spectrum of Marxist-Leninist views and suffered from internecine struggles in the 1970s, which sometimes turned violent. Some leaders on the left-wing of the party, such as Ange Diawara
Ange Diawara
Ange Diawara was a politician and military figure from the Republic of the Congo.Diawara was born in Sibiti. When the National Revolutionary Council was established in August 1968, Diawara became First Vice-President of the CNR Executive Board in charge of Defense and Security; he was...
and Claude-Ernest Ndalla
Claude-Ernest Ndalla
Claude-Ernest Ndalla is a Congolese politician. First coming to prominence as a radical youth leader in 1960s Congo-Brazzaville, he was one of the leading members of the Congolese Labour Party in the period immediately following its founding in 1969, but after a few years his career fell into a...
, favored a radical pro-Chinese
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
position; they unsuccessfully attempted a coup d'etat against Ngouabi in February 1972. The right-wing of the party, which was derided as having only a superficial commitment to Marxism-Leninism, was represented by Joachim Yhombi Opango; the 1972 plot was inspired by the left-wing's loathing for Yhombi Opango.
Ngouabi was assassinated under unclear circumstances in March 1977, and Yhombi Opango succeeded him. However, Yhombi Opango's opponents in the PCT were angered by his rightist "deviationism
Deviationism
A deviationist is a person who expresses a deviation: an abnormality or departure. In Stalinist Communism deviationism is an expressed belief which is not in accordance with official party doctrine for the time and area. Accusations of deviationism often led to purges...
" and perceived marginalization of the party, and they ousted him in a February 1979 technical coup, installing Denis Sassou Nguesso
Denis Sassou Nguesso
Denis Sassou Nguesso is a Congolese politician who has been the President of Congo-Brazzaville since 1997; he was previously President from 1979 to 1992. During his first period as President, he headed the single-party regime of the Congolese Labour Party for 12 years...
—another career officer from the north—in power. The elevation of Sassou Nguesso, who represented the PCT's left-wing, marked a return to party orthodoxy. Nevertheless, Sassou Nguesso was neither a radical leftist nor an ideologue; his policies were generally marked by pragmatism, and he sought warm relations with the West as well as the Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
.
As Sassou Nguesso consolidated power, PCT factionalism was less pronounced during the 1980s, although internal power struggles continued. Jean-Pierre Thystère Tchicaya
Jean-Pierre Thystère Tchicaya
Jean-Pierre Thystère Tchicaya was a Congolese politician. He was briefly Acting Head of State of the Republic of the Congo in February 1979 and was President of the National Assembly of the Republic of the Congo from 2002 to 2007...
, a leftist ideologue who was one of the PCT's top-ranking leaders, was accused of organizing a bomb plot and removed from the leadership at the 1984 party congress. A powerful faction in the party, led by François-Xavier Katali, favored a hard-line pro-Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
position; Sassou Nguesso was able to marginalize the Katali faction at the 1984 congress. Katali was demoted to a minor government ministry, but suffered no further punishment; when he died of a heart attack in 1986, he was considered a national hero.
Serious unrest in 1990 resulted in the collapse of the PCT regime. Sassou Nguesso was forced to introduce multi-party politics in 1990 and then call a National Conference in 1991. The National Conference saw severe criticism of Sassou Nguesso and repudiated PCT rule; it set up a non-PCT transitional government and reduced Sassou Nguesso to figurehead status.
The multi-party era
The PCT was in opposition from 1992 to 1997, during the Presidency of Pascal LissoubaPascal Lissouba
Pascal Lissouba was the first democratically elected President of the Republic of the Congo from August 31, 1992 to October 15, 1997. He was overthrown by the current President Denis Sassou Nguesso in the 1997 civil war....
. Although Marxist-Leninist ideology was abandoned, the party remained loyal to Sassou Nguesso and it continued to be dominated by key figures from the single-party era. Sassou Nguesso ultimately returned to power in the June–October 1997 civil war.
The PCT is essentially non-ideological today and is simply based around support for President Sassou Nguesso and his development policies. Although it has varying levels of support across the country, its key support base remains the north; in some northern districts, support for the PCT is so overwhelming that its parliamentary candidates win "Soviet-style" scores approaching 100% of the vote.
Denis Sassou Nguesso, presidential candidate of both the PCT and the United Democratic Forces
United Democratic Forces (Congo)
The United Democratic Forces was an alliance of political parties in the Republic of the Congo, led by Denis Sassou-Nguesso. Sassou-Nguesso, presidential candidate of both the Congolese Labour Party and the FDU, won the presidential election of 10 March 2002 with 89.4% of the vote...
coalition, won the March 2002 presidential election
Republic of the Congo presidential election, 2002
A presidential election was held in the Republic of the Congo on 10 March 2002. This followed a civil war in 1997, which returned Denis Sassou Nguesso to power, and a subsequent transitional period, in which a new constitution was written and approved by referendum in January 2002.The election...
with 89.4% of the vote; there were no serious opposition candidates. The PCT won 53 out of 137 seats in the National Assembly in the May–June 2002 parliamentary election
Republic of the Congo parliamentary election, 2002
A parliamentary election was held in the Republic of the Congo in 2002; the first round was held on 26 May and the second round on 20 June. The Congolese Labour Party and its allies won a majority of seats in the National Assembly....
; together with smaller, allied parties, it held a parliamentary majority.
At the party's Fifth Extraordinary Congress in December 2006, Sassou-Nguesso was re-elected as President of the Central Committee of the PCT and Ambroise Noumazalaye
Ambroise Noumazalaye
Ambroise Édouard Noumazalaye was a Congolese politician who was Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo from 1966 to 1968, under President Alphonse Massamba-Débat. Later in life he served as Secretary-General of the Congolese Labour Party and was a supporter of President Denis Sassou Nguesso...
was re-elected as Secretary-General of the PCT; the Central Committee elected at the 2006 congress included more than 500 members (there were previously less than 150 members), while the Political Bureau elected on the same occasion included more than 60 members and the Permanent Secretariat included 15 members.
The political landscape in Congo-Brazzaville has been highly fractured since the early 1990s. In an effort to consolidate support for Sassou Nguesso, an initiative to "refound" the PCT as a broader party was attempted in 2006. Although backed by Secretary-General Noumazalaye, the effort encountered firm opposition from PCT "conservatives", led by Justin Lekoundzou
Justin Lekoundzou
Justin Lekoundzou Itihi Ossetoumba is a Congolese politician. He is a founding member of the Congolese Labour Party , and during the PCT's single-party rule he held important party and government positions in the 1970s and 1980s...
, who wanted to preserve the PCT as a distinct party.
Noumazalaye died in November 2007, and Prime Minister Isidore Mvouba
Isidore Mvouba
Isidore Mvouba is a Congolese politician who was Prime Minister of Congo-Brazzaville from January 2005 to September 2009. He is a member of the Congolese Labour Party and has held key positions under President Denis Sassou-Nguesso since 1997.Mvouba was Director of the Cabinet of the Head of State...
became Interim Secretary-General of the PCT.
In the parliamentary election
Republic of the Congo parliamentary election, 2007
A parliamentary election was held in the Republic of the Congo on 24 June 2007, with a second round initially planned for 22 July 2007, but then postponed to 5 August 2007. According to the National Commission of the Organization of the Elections , 1,807 candidates stood in the first round for 137...
held on June 24 and August 5, 2007, the PCT won 46 seats; although it was again the largest party, the fractionalization of the political landscape ensured that it fell well short of a parliamentary majority. However, the combined parties of the Presidential Majority supporting Sassou Nguesso won an overwhelming majority: 125 out of 137 seats. After the election, a large grouping of parties, including the PCT, was launched in December 2007: the Rally of the Presidential Majority (RMP). While the member parties of the RMP preserved their distinct identities, the grouping provided for some degree of consolidation and improved organization among Sassou Nguesso's supporters. In the 2008 local elections, the RMP parties ran joint candidate lists.