General elections were held in the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 18 March and 30 April 1965, following the promulgation of a new constitution approved by a referendum the previous year. 223 political parties contested the election for 167 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. The elections had originally been scheduled for the summer of 1964, but were postponed due to the Simba rebellion, ultimately taking place in March 1965. The process was "relatively free of fraud or rigging", except for in Kinshasa, where a lack of ballots and personnel delayed voting there by a month.
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167 members of the Chamber of Deputies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Results by electoral district (post-reruns) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The number of electoral lists competing dropped from 250 in 1960 to 227. Yet, more parties won seats this time, as there were no truly national parties. The creation of new provinces, feuling regional and ethnic claims to autonomy, and the adoption of the Luluabourg Constitution, which established a de facto federal structure, contributed to the fragmentation. In practice, provinces enjoyed substantial autonomy, as the central government lacked the capacity to fully enforce its authority. Every major party from the previous election had since fractured, making the emergence of a cohesive national party impossible. As a result, political power could only be secured through the formation of a coalition.
Before the rebellions, an attempt to form an alliance of parties was initiated by Prime Minister Cyrille Adoula under the name Rassemblement des Démocrate Congolais (RADECO). However, this alliance lost momentum in the wake of the rebellions and died out with the appointment of former secessionist leader Moïse Tshombe as Prime Minister. Once in power, Tshombe created a coalition of circumstance called the Convention Nationale Congolaise (CONACO). 49 list were represented at the CONACO congress a month before the election. There, a vague platform was adopted, proclaiming CONACO's commitment to democracy, development, human rights, and provincial autonomy, while opposing racism, colonialism, tribalism, regionalism, and secessionism. The preferred candidate of a large segment of the "moderate" coalition was Tshombe.
Lumumbist parties, initially boycotting the elections as they felt they could not be held democratically, on the eve of the elections, formed a Lumumbist coalition called the Alliance des mouvements nationalistes congolais Lumumba (AMNCL). The alliance demanded the release of Antoine Gizenga and his associates, the restoration of the democratic freedoms enshrined in the constitution, and declared themselves to be the sole nationalist name in the election. The coalition brought together MNC-L, Unified Lumumbist Party, ATCAR, and Balubakat. The preferred candidate of the nationalists was Kasavubu.

Following the elections, the results were disputed by several parties. The Léopoldville Court of Appeal accepted six of them, and re-runs were required in Kivu Central, Goma-Rutshuru, Cuvette Centrale, Fizi, Kwilu and Maniema, which were held between 8 and 22 August 1965. In Fizi and Maniema, where the cancellations came into effect on August 23, new elections were not held, but representatives for these constituencies were appointed at the beginning of 1966. The CONACO coalition, led by a "politician of indisputable charm and skill" and benefiting from access to the national treasury, was able to secure 122 seats (after re-runs). The AMNCL, whose member parties had suffered from internal fractures, the discrediting and defeat of the rebellions, and had their primary bastion of support in military-occupied territories, was only able to secure 7 (after re-runs).
However, this unity within the CONACO coalition didn't last long and by the time parliament convened in September 1965, defectors had formed the Front Démocratique Congolais (FDC) coalition, resulting in a divided parliament as the CONACO coalition retained control of the Chamber of Deputies while the FDC gained control of the Senate.
At the first session of the new Parliament on October 13, President Kasa-Vubu, amidst an increasingly intense political rivalry with Tshombe, unexpectedly declared that Tshombe's transitional government had fulfilled its purpose of suppressing the leftist rebellions in the Eastern Congo; he replaced Tshombe with Évariste Kimba as prime minister, making him in charge of forming a Government of National Unity (GNU). The Kimba government was formally installed on October 18, with 16 of the 39 political parties in parliament being represented in government.
The coalition government faced a vote of no confidence on November 14 and failed to gain the approval of the majority of lawmakers, losing 72 to 76 in the Chamber of Deputies and 49 to 58 in the Senate. Despite this however, President Kasa-Vubu reappointed Kimba as prime minister to the opposition of the Pro-Tshombe deputies in Parliament, leading to a paralyzed government.
Amidst the political deadlock, Gen. Joseph Mobutu, head of the army, militarily intervened. On November 25, 1965, Mobutu staged a bloodless coup, citing the need to restore order and bring an end to the intenable political situation. Announced via radio, the coup attempt progressed smoothly with little resistance met from either Kasa-Vubu or Tshombe supporters as Mobutu took control of the government. The country's capital and major cities remained calm with little visible military presence.
Results
Chamber of Deputies
Pre-annulment
Party or alliance | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CONACO-led Coalition | Convention Nationale Congolaise | 227,961 | 9.24 | 38 | New | ||
CONAKAT | 178,302 | 7.23 | 9 | +1 | |||
162,016 | 6.57 | 10 | New | ||||
104,896 | 4.25 | 7 | New | ||||
Rally for Congolese Democracy/Conaco | 91,475 | 3.71 | 4 | New | |||
64,845 | 2.63 | 4 | New | ||||
62,856 | 2.55 | 4 | +1 | ||||
59,223 | 2.40 | 3 | New | ||||
/Conaco | 56,698 | 2.30 | 4 | New | |||
/Conaco | 52,060 | 2.11 | 4 | New | |||
/Conaco | 49,675 | 2.01 | 6 | New | |||
/Conaco | 49,039 | 1.99 | 4 | New | |||
/Conaco | 48,944 | 1.98 | 4 | New | |||
/Conaco | 42,878 | 1.74 | 2 | New | |||
36,441 | 1.48 | 2 | New | ||||
36,430 | 1.48 | 3 | New | ||||
35,275 | 1.43 | 3 | New | ||||
/Conaco | 34,811 | 1.41 | 2 | New | |||
PDR/Conaco | 29,277 | 1.19 | 5 | New | |||
Cartels CONACO/Conaco | 23,052 | 0.93 | 1 | New | |||
Congolese Democratic Rally | 19,912 | 0.81 | 1 | New | |||
/Conaco | 16,314 | 0.66 | 3 | +2 | |||
/Conaco | 15,104 | 0.61 | 1 | New | |||
/Conaco | 9,781 | 0.40 | 1 | New | |||
6,226 | 0.25 | 1 | New | ||||
ABAKO | 136,226 | 5.52 | 10 | –2 | |||
AMNCL | BALUKABAT | 64,866 | 2.63 | 3 | New | ||
Mouvement National Congolais-Lumumba | 31,874 | 1.29 | 2 | –34 | |||
24,710 | 1.00 | 2 | +1 | ||||
82,601 | 3.35 | 4 | –4 | ||||
Parti Solidaire Africain-Kamitatu | 79,358 | 3.22 | 4 | –9 | |||
68,750 | 2.79 | 5 | New | ||||
32,780 | 1.33 | 1 | New | ||||
-Conaco | 25,375 | 1.03 | 1 | − | |||
22,011 | 0.89 | 2 | New | ||||
19,944 | 0.81 | 1 | New | ||||
19,179 | 0.78 | 1 | New | ||||
15,059 | 0.61 | 1 | New | ||||
21,861 | 0.89 | 1 | New | ||||
11,645 | 0.47 | 1 | New | ||||
9,634 | 0.39 | 1 | New | ||||
Regional parties | 274,778 | 11.14 | 0 | 0 | |||
Independents | 12,815 | 0.52 | 1 | +1 | |||
Total | 2,466,957 | 100.00 | 167 | +30 | |||
Source: Sternberger et al. Gerard-Libois et al. (coalitions) |
Following re-runs
Party or alliance | Seats | +/– | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
CONACO-led Coalition | Convention Nationale Congolaise | 37 | New | ||
CONAKAT | 9 | +1 | |||
7 | New | ||||
/Conaco | 7 | New | |||
7 | New | ||||
Rally for Congolese Democracy/Conaco | 5 | New | |||
/Conaco | 5 | New | |||
4 | New | ||||
Congolese Democrat Party/Conaco | 4 | New | |||
4 | +1 | ||||
/Conaco | 4 | +1 | |||
/Conaco | 4 | New | |||
4 | New | ||||
3 | New | ||||
/Conaco | 3 | +2 | |||
2 | New | ||||
/Conaco | 2 | New | |||
2 | New | ||||
PDR/Conaco | 2 | New | |||
/Conaco | 1 | New | |||
/Conaco | 1 | +2 | |||
/Conaco | 1 | New | |||
/Conaco | 1 | New | |||
/Conaco | 3 | New | |||
Total | 122 | New | |||
ABAKO | 10 | –2 | |||
AMNCL | BALUKABAT | 3 | New | ||
Mouvement National Congolais-Lumumba | 2 | –34 | |||
2 | +1 | ||||
Total | 7 | New | |||
Parti Solidaire Africain-Kamitatu | 7 | –6 | |||
Mwinda-Bakongo | 5 | New | |||
Party of National Unity | 4 | -4 | |||
Unicentrale | 4 | New | |||
2 | New | ||||
-CONACO | 1 | New | |||
1 | New | ||||
1 | New | ||||
1 | New | ||||
1 | New | ||||
Independents | 1 | +1 | |||
Total | 167 | +30 | |||
Source: Gerard-Libois et al. |
Notes
- Only the national elections were cancelled in these constituencies
- This faction of the ATCAR's list name included CONACO but did not partake in the CONACO Congress of Luluabourg
References
- DRC: Electoral Operation of the 1965 election Archived 2010-09-02 at the Wayback Machine EISA
- Hayward, Fred M. (2019). Elections in Independent Africa. Taylor & Francis. pp. 252–256. ISBN 9780429712005.
- Gerard-Libois, Jules; Verhaegen, Benoit (1967). Congo 1965: Political Documents of a Developing Nation. Princeton University Press. pp. 221–227. ISBN 9780691030128.
- DRC: Constitutional Crisis between Kasavubu and Tshombe. pp. 67–68.
- "20. Congo-Kinshasa/Zaire/Democratic Republic of the Congo (1960-present)". uca.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
- The Rise and Decline of the Zairian State. University of Wisconsin Press. 1985. pp. 50–51. ISBN 9780299101138.
- "Kasavubu Regime Ousted By Army Coup in Congo". archive.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
- Dolf Sternberger, Bernhard Vogel, Dieter Nohlen & Klaus Landfried (1978) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band II: Afrika, Zweiter Halbband, pp2432−2433
Author: www.NiNa.Az
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General elections were held in the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 18 March and 30 April 1965 following the promulgation of a new constitution approved by a referendum the previous year 223 political parties contested the election for 167 seats in the Chamber of Deputies The elections had originally been scheduled for the summer of 1964 but were postponed due to the Simba rebellion ultimately taking place in March 1965 The process was relatively free of fraud or rigging except for in Kinshasa where a lack of ballots and personnel delayed voting there by a month 1965 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election 1960 18 March 30 April 1965 1970 167 members of the Chamber of Deputies Majority party Minority party Third party Leader Moise Tshombe Joseph Kasa Vubu Party CONACO ABAKO Seats won 122 10 7 Seat change New 2 NewResults by electoral district post reruns Prime Minister before election Moise Tshombe CONAKAT Elected Prime Minister Evariste Kimba FDC The number of electoral lists competing dropped from 250 in 1960 to 227 Yet more parties won seats this time as there were no truly national parties The creation of new provinces feuling regional and ethnic claims to autonomy and the adoption of the Luluabourg Constitution which established a de facto federal structure contributed to the fragmentation In practice provinces enjoyed substantial autonomy as the central government lacked the capacity to fully enforce its authority Every major party from the previous election had since fractured making the emergence of a cohesive national party impossible As a result political power could only be secured through the formation of a coalition Before the rebellions an attempt to form an alliance of parties was initiated by Prime Minister Cyrille Adoula under the name Rassemblement des Democrate Congolais RADECO However this alliance lost momentum in the wake of the rebellions and died out with the appointment of former secessionist leader Moise Tshombe as Prime Minister Once in power Tshombe created a coalition of circumstance called the Convention Nationale Congolaise CONACO 49 list were represented at the CONACO congress a month before the election There a vague platform was adopted proclaiming CONACO s commitment to democracy development human rights and provincial autonomy while opposing racism colonialism tribalism regionalism and secessionism The preferred candidate of a large segment of the moderate coalition was Tshombe Lumumbist parties initially boycotting the elections as they felt they could not be held democratically on the eve of the elections formed a Lumumbist coalition called the Alliance des mouvements nationalistes congolais Lumumba AMNCL The alliance demanded the release of Antoine Gizenga and his associates the restoration of the democratic freedoms enshrined in the constitution and declared themselves to be the sole nationalist name in the election The coalition brought together MNC L Unified Lumumbist Party ATCAR and Balubakat The preferred candidate of the nationalists was Kasavubu Campaign poster for CONACO The message on the poster says when I promise I deliver Following the elections the results were disputed by several parties The Leopoldville Court of Appeal accepted six of them and re runs were required in Kivu Central Goma Rutshuru Cuvette Centrale Fizi Kwilu and Maniema which were held between 8 and 22 August 1965 In Fizi and Maniema where the cancellations came into effect on August 23 new elections were not held but representatives for these constituencies were appointed at the beginning of 1966 The CONACO coalition led by a politician of indisputable charm and skill and benefiting from access to the national treasury was able to secure 122 seats after re runs The AMNCL whose member parties had suffered from internal fractures the discrediting and defeat of the rebellions and had their primary bastion of support in military occupied territories was only able to secure 7 after re runs However this unity within the CONACO coalition didn t last long and by the time parliament convened in September 1965 defectors had formed the Front Democratique Congolais FDC coalition resulting in a divided parliament as the CONACO coalition retained control of the Chamber of Deputies while the FDC gained control of the Senate At the first session of the new Parliament on October 13 President Kasa Vubu amidst an increasingly intense political rivalry with Tshombe unexpectedly declared that Tshombe s transitional government had fulfilled its purpose of suppressing the leftist rebellions in the Eastern Congo he replaced Tshombe with Evariste Kimba as prime minister making him in charge of forming a Government of National Unity GNU The Kimba government was formally installed on October 18 with 16 of the 39 political parties in parliament being represented in government The coalition government faced a vote of no confidence on November 14 and failed to gain the approval of the majority of lawmakers losing 72 to 76 in the Chamber of Deputies and 49 to 58 in the Senate Despite this however President Kasa Vubu reappointed Kimba as prime minister to the opposition of the Pro Tshombe deputies in Parliament leading to a paralyzed government Amidst the political deadlock Gen Joseph Mobutu head of the army militarily intervened On November 25 1965 Mobutu staged a bloodless coup citing the need to restore order and bring an end to the intenable political situation Announced via radio the coup attempt progressed smoothly with little resistance met from either Kasa Vubu or Tshombe supporters as Mobutu took control of the government The country s capital and major cities remained calm with little visible military presence ResultsChamber of Deputies Pre annulment Party or allianceVotes Seats CONACO led CoalitionConvention Nationale Congolaise227 9619 2438NewCONAKAT178 3027 239 1162 0166 5710New104 8964 257NewRally for Congolese Democracy Conaco91 4753 714New64 8452 634New62 8562 554 159 2232 403New Conaco56 6982 304New Conaco52 0602 114New Conaco49 6752 016New Conaco49 0391 994New Conaco48 9441 984New Conaco42 8781 742New36 4411 482New36 4301 483New35 2751 433New Conaco34 8111 412NewPDR Conaco29 2771 195NewCartels CONACO Conaco23 0520 931NewCongolese Democratic Rally19 9120 811New Conaco16 3140 663 2 Conaco15 1040 611New Conaco9 7810 401New6 2260 251NewABAKO136 2265 5210 2AMNCLBALUKABAT64 8662 633NewMouvement National Congolais Lumumba31 8741 292 3424 7101 002 182 6013 354 4Parti Solidaire Africain Kamitatu79 3583 224 968 7502 795New32 7801 331New Conaco25 3751 031 22 0110 892New19 9440 811New19 1790 781New15 0590 611New21 8610 891New11 6450 471New9 6340 391NewRegional parties274 77811 1400Independents12 8150 521 1Total2 466 957100 00167 30Source Sternberger et al Gerard Libois et al coalitions Following re runs Party or allianceSeats CONACO led CoalitionConvention Nationale Congolaise37NewCONAKAT9 17New Conaco7New7NewRally for Congolese Democracy Conaco5New Conaco5New4NewCongolese Democrat Party Conaco4New4 1 Conaco4 1 Conaco4New4New3New Conaco3 22New Conaco2New2NewPDR Conaco2New Conaco1New Conaco1 2 Conaco1New Conaco1New Conaco3NewTotal122NewABAKO10 2AMNCLBALUKABAT3NewMouvement National Congolais Lumumba2 342 1Total7NewParti Solidaire Africain Kamitatu7 6Mwinda Bakongo5NewParty of National Unity4 4Unicentrale4New2New CONACO1New1New1New1New1NewIndependents1 1Total167 30Source Gerard Libois et al NotesOnly the national elections were cancelled in these constituencies This faction of the ATCAR s list name included CONACO but did not partake in the CONACO Congress of LuluabourgReferencesDRC Electoral Operation of the 1965 election Archived 2010 09 02 at the Wayback Machine EISA Hayward Fred M 2019 Elections in Independent Africa Taylor amp Francis pp 252 256 ISBN 9780429712005 Gerard Libois Jules Verhaegen Benoit 1967 Congo 1965 Political Documents of a Developing Nation Princeton University Press pp 221 227 ISBN 9780691030128 DRC Constitutional Crisis between Kasavubu and Tshombe pp 67 68 20 Congo Kinshasa Zaire Democratic Republic of the Congo 1960 present uca edu Retrieved 2024 10 06 The Rise and Decline of the Zairian State University of Wisconsin Press 1985 pp 50 51 ISBN 9780299101138 Kasavubu Regime Ousted By Army Coup in Congo archive nytimes com Retrieved 2024 10 06 Dolf Sternberger Bernhard Vogel Dieter Nohlen amp Klaus Landfried 1978 Die Wahl der Parlamente Band II Afrika Zweiter Halbband pp2432 2433