Senate elections were held in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

on 14 March 2019 to elect the 108 Senators. Former DRC President

Joseph Kabila Joseph Kabila Kabange ( , ; born 4 June 1971) is a Congolese politician and former military officer who served as the fourth President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2001 to 2019. He took office ten days after the assassination o ...

, who stepped down from office in January 2019 following the inauguration of the recently elected

Félix Tshisekedi Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo (; born 13 June 1963) is a Congolese politician who has served as the fifth president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, since 2019. He was the leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (Demo ...

, has also joined the upper house of the legislature as a

senator for life A senator for life is a member of the senate or equivalent upper chamber of a legislature who has life tenure. , five Italian senators out of 205, two out of the 41 Burundian senators, one Congolese senator out of 109, and all members of the Bri ...

, for a total of 109 seats.Bujakera, Stanis (15 March 2019)
Congo ex-leader Kabila's coalition wins decisive senate majority
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

''. Accessed 21 March 2019.

Background

The Senate is elected indirectly by the 780 members of the provincial assemblies.Alia Chughtai, Hamza Mohamed (28 December 2018)
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Elections 2018
Al Jazeera. This Senate election was postponed one year from an earlier date in June 2012 and another year from a later date in June 2013. The

Independent National Electoral Commission Independent National Electoral Commission may refer to: *Independent National Electoral Commission (Burundi) *Independent National Electoral Commission (Democratic Republic of the Congo) *Independent National Electoral Commission (Guinea) The Inde ...

(CENI) planned on holding them in early 2016, but they did not occur. On 30 December 2018, a

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

was held that resulted in opposition leader

being elected president. Incumbent President

, in office since 2001 and whose constitutional mandate ended in 2016, stepped down from office in January 2019, when Tshisekedi was inaugurated. This was the first democratic transition of power in the DRC since it gained independence from Belgium in 1960. As a former president, Kabila will be a

, according to the DRC's constitution. Kabila-allied parties gained a majority in both 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 repr ...

and the provincial assemblies, which were also elected on that date.Tounsi, Samir (12 January 2019)
Pro-Kabila camp wins DRC legislative poll, recount sought for presidency
. Yahoo News.

Results

The election for the eight seats from the provinces of

North Kivu North Kivu () is a Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital city is Goma. Spanning approximately 59,483 square kilometers with a population esti ...

and Mai-Ndombe were delayed.

Aftermath

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

was killed during protests in the city of

Mbuji-Mayi Mbuji-Mayi (formerly Bakwanga) is a city and the capital of Kasai-Oriental Province in the south-central Democratic Republic of Congo. It is thought to be the second largest city in the country, after the capital Kinshasa and ahead of Lubumbashi ...

over the massive victory of the Common Front for Congo (FCC) coalition, supported by former President Joseph Kabila. Protests were also held in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

. Recently inaugurated President Félix Tshisekedi has pledged to reform the country, but his ability to do this will be limited by the fact that the pro-Kabila FCC has the majority of seats in both the National Assembly and also the Senate. Supporters of Tshisekedi's UPDS party protested in Kinshasa and Tshisekedi's strongholds in the central DRC because they alleged that the results were rigged, and party supporters also attacked offices of FCC legislators in

Kasaï-Oriental Kasaï-Oriental (French for "East Kasai") is one of the 21 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Kasaï-Oriental, Lomami, and Sankuru provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the former ...

province. In Kinshasa, protests occurred outside the parliament building. Allegations have been made that provincial assemblymen were bribed to vote for the FCC.DR Congo’s Ruling Party Demonstrates After Senatorial Elections
News Ghana. Published 18 March 2019.

References

{{Democratic Republic of the Congo Senate elections 2019 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo March 2019 in Africa