The Congolese Progressive Party (, PPC) was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Congo-Brazzaville The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

. It was the first Congolese political party (founded by Jean-Félix Tchicaya in 1945), and the Congolese section of the

African Democratic Rally African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** List ...

(RDA). Until 1950 PPC was closely connected to the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

.Bazenguissa-Ganga, Rémy.
Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique
'. Paris: Karthala, 1997. pp. 36, 416 The party was largely based amongst the Vili people. Aubert-Lucien Lounda was the General Secretary of the party. Many of the activists of the CGT

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

movement in Congo (which later became an independent trade union centre, CGAT) were members of the PPC. The party had youth and women's sections, but these were not very active. PPC published ''AEF Nouvelle'' between 1947 and 1949. PPC won the 1946 French National Assembly election in Moyen-Congo, obtaining 46% of the votes.Bazenguissa-Ganga, Rémy.
Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique
'. Paris: Karthala, 1997. p. 38 Tchicaya was elected Member of Parliament. In the first Moyen-Congo Representative Council election, held in 1947, PPC got 62,5% of the votes. PPC got 15 seats in the council, whilst

French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (, SFIO) was a major socialist political party in France which was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the present Socialist Party. The SFIO was founded in 1905 as the French representativ ...

(SFIO) got 9. When the Communist Party was expelled from the French government in May 1947, it had repercussions in the PPC as well. The PPC suffered a series of disagreements as a result. PPC remained the most voted party in the 1951 French National Assembly election, winning 44% of the votes. In the 1952 Moyen-Congo Representative Council election PPC got 34% of the votes. Two future Congolese statesmen,

Fulbert Youlou Fulbert Youlou (19 July 1917 – 6 May 1972) was a Republic of the Congo, Congolese Nationalism, nationalist leader and former Catholic Church, Catholic priest who became the first President of the Republic of the Congo upon its independence in ...

and

Alphonse Massamba-Débat Alphonse Massamba-Débat (February 11, 1921 – March 25, 1977) was a political figure of the Republic of the Congo who led the country from 1963 until 1968 in a one-party system. Biography Early life He was born in the small village of Nkolo, ...

, were members of the PPC at the time. In 1956 they both left the party, and joined

UDDIA The Democratic Union for the Defense of African Interests (French: ''Union démocratique de défense des intérêts africains'', UDDIA) was a conservative, Francophile political party in the early years of the Republic of the Congo. The UDDIA was ...

. With Youlou's rise to political prominence, the influence of PPC declined. In the 1956 municipal elections in

Brazzaville Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...

, PPC got 2,478 and three seats (out of 37). In the PPC stronghold of

Pointe-Noire Pointe-Noire (; , with the letter d following French spelling standards) is the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo, following the capital of Brazzaville, and an autonomous department and a commune since the 2002 Constitution. B ...

, the party mustered to get 8 seats.Kidane Mengisteab, and Cyril K. Daddieh.
State Building and Democratization in Africa: Faith, Hope, and Realities
'. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 1999. p. 163 In March 1957 a PPC- African Socialist Movement (MSA) alliance was formed. The PPC-MSA bloc obtained a majority, 25 seats (out of whom two seats were held by PPC), in the new Territorial Assembly of Moyen-Congo. A government led by the MSA leader Jacques Opangault was formed. But the alliance between PPC and MSA would not last. In September 1957 the majority fell apart, and UDDIA formed a new government. In the same year, the RDA had broken its links with PPC and sided with UDDIA. After the break with RDA, the PPC aligned itself with the African Regroupment Party (PRA).Thompson, Virginia McLean, and Richard Adloff.
The Emerging States of French Equatorial Africa
'. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1960. p. 488

References

{{reflist Defunct political parties in the Republic of the Congo Political parties established in 1945 Sections of the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain Communism in the Republic of the Congo