The Rally for Democracy and Social Progress (french: Rassemblement pour la démocratie et le progrès social, RDPS) is a

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

in the Republic of the Congo, founded by Jean-Pierre Thystère Tchicaya.

History

Thystère Tchicaya founded the RDPS on 29 October 1990, after splitting from another opposition group, the National Union for Democracy and Progress (UNDP). The RDPS won nine seats in the June–July 1992 parliamentary election. Initially part of the National Alliance for Democracy (AND), a coalition of left-wing parties that supported

Pascal Lissouba Pascal Lissouba (15 November 1931 – 24 August 2020) was a Congolese politician who was the first democratically elected President of the Republic of the Congo and served from 31 August 1992 until 25 October 1997. He was overthrown by the fo ...

, the RDPS soon broke with the AND and joined the Union for Democratic Renewal (URD) opposition coalition, led by Bernard Kolélas. Together with the Union for the Republic (UR) and the Movement for Democracy and Salvation (MDS), the RDPS formed an alliance, the Movement for Unity and Reconstruction (MUR), in November 1996. A few days after rebels loyal to

Denis Sassou Nguesso Denis Sassou Nguesso (born 23 November 1943) is a Congolese politician and former military officer. He became president of the Republic of the Congo in 1997. He served a previous term as president from 1979 to 1992. During his first period as p ...

captured Brazzaville, the capital, at the end of the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...

in October 1997, Tchicaya announced the support of the RDPS for Sassou Nguesso. In the parliamentary election held on 24 June and 5 August 2007, the party won two out of 137 seats. RDPS President Thystère Tchicaya died on 20 June 2008.

Bernard Batchi Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French language, French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" an ...

succeeded him as Interim President of the RDPS. Later, the party was led by Thystère Tchicaya's son, Jean-Marc Thystère Tchicaya. On 10 August 2015 he was nominated Minister of Hydrocarbures, allowing RDPS to formally join the government. In January 2016, the party pledged its support for Denis Sassou Nguesso in the March 2016 presidential election. The party contested the 2017 parliamentary election as part of the presidential majority winning only three out of 151 seats. Following the election Jean-Marc Thystère Tchicaya was reconfirmed ad Minister of Hydrocarbures in the newly formed Clément Mouamba's second cabinet. In the 2021 presidential election the party supported once again Sassou Nguesso's candidacy, that was reelected for his fourth term. The following year, in the occasion of the 2022 parliamentary election the party obtained only two seats, one down from the previous election.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

National Assembly elections

References

{{Republic of the Congo political parties Political parties in the Republic of the Congo Political parties established in 1990 1990 establishments in the Republic of the Congo