2011 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election

General elections were held in Democratic Republic of the Congo on 28 November 2011 for the President of the Republic and all 500 seats of the National Assembly. A facultative run-off on 26 February 2012 was shelved with a change in election laws allowing a presidential candidate to win with a plurality of the vote. Incumbent president Joseph Kabila, an independent candidate, was constitutionally eligible to run for a second term and defeated Étienne Tshisekedi of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress. Kabila was inaugurated on 20 December 2011.

2011 DR Congo general election

← 2006 28 November 2011 2018 →
Presidential election
Turnout	59.05%
Nominee Joseph Kabila Étienne Tshisekedi Party Independent UDPS Alliance AMP PPRD Popular vote 8,880,944 5,864,775 Percentage 48.95% 32.33%
Results by province Results by territory/city
President before election Joseph Kabila Independent Elected President Joseph Kabila Independent

The government passed laws to abolish the second round of the presidential election and tried to change the legislative electoral system from proportional to majority representation, which was strongly criticized by the opposition.

International organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union raised concerns about the transparency of the elections.

On 8 November 2011 opposition leader Étienne Tshisekedi declared himself president saying the majority of people turned against President Kabila.

On 28 November 2011 the elections were held under difficult conditions. Voting was characterized by incidents of violence throughout the country. Because of violence and delays in the delivery of ballot boxes elections were extended by a second day.

Candidates

1. Jean Andeka (ANCC)
2. Adam Bombolé (independent)
3. Joseph Kabila (independent)
4. François Nicéphore Kakese (URDC)
5. Vital Kamerhe (UNC)
6. Oscar Kashala (UREC)
7. Léon Kengo (UFC)
8. Antipas Mbusa (independent)
9. Nzanga Mobutu (Udemo)
10. Josué Alex Mukendi (independent)
11. Étienne Tshisekedi (UDPS)

Registration

DR Congo's National Independent Electoral Commission has registered 32 million voters for the November elections.

Province	Registered voters
Kinshasa	3,287,745
Bas-Congo	1,502,939
Bandundu	3,553,322
Equateur	3,960,643
Orientale	3,886,524
North Kivu	3,003,246
South Kivu	2,022,960
Maniema	874,809
Katanga	4,627,302
Kasai Oriental	2,643,905
Kasai Occidental	2,661,245
Total	32,024,640

Results

Voters standing in line in Walikale

Electoral campaign posters in Ndjili, Kinshasa

Voting cards for the 2011 election

President

The first results released on 2 December 2011, with 15% of the vote counted (mostly in areas considered Kabila strongholds), gave Kabila only a narrow lead of 940,000 votes against 912,000 votes for UPDS leader Tshisekedi.

With half the precincts counted, Kabila was leading with 4.9 million votes, or nearly 49%. His opponent Etienne Tshisekedi was trailing with 3.4 million votes, about 34%. However, this count did not include much of Kinshasa, where Tshisekedi was expected to have strong results.^{[citation needed]} Kabila ceased all email and SMS services nationwide. It has been also said^{[by whom?]} that over 5,000,000 of ballot papers were pre-ticked for the number 3 candidate (Kabila), but no formal actions were taken by the CENI.^{[citation needed]} Some witnesses said that young men had beaten election officials who tried to bring in fraudulent ballots, which were subsequently burned.

The announcement of final results was postponed to 8 December 2011; with over two thirds of the vote counted, Kabila led with 46% to Tshisekedi's 36%.

The Independent National Electoral Commission declared Kabila as the winner on December 9. The result was put into question by the Carter Center as well as the archbishop of Kinshasa, Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, claiming too many irregularities occurred to assure that the results reflected the will of the people. The Carter Center indicated that ballots had been missing in some areas while in others Kabila achieved unrealistic results. Observers from the Carter Center noted that in some districts voter turnout was reported to be 100 percent, which is extremely unlikely. MONUSCO, the peacekeeping mission of the United Nations, also voiced concern about the results.

While Kabila admitted that some mistakes had been made in the process, he rejected concerns about the outcome. The result was confirmed by the Supreme Court of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Jerome Kitoko, President of the Supreme Court, announcing the official results proclaimed Kabila to be the winner of the presidential election.

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Joseph Kabila	Independent	8,880,944	48.95
	Étienne Tshisekedi	Union for Democracy and Social Progress	5,864,775	32.33
	Vital Kamerhe	Union for the Congolese Nation	1,403,372	7.74
	Léon Kengo		898,362	4.95
	Antipas Mbusa	Independent	311,787	1.72
	Nzanga Mobutu	Union of Mobutist Democrats	285,273	1.57
	Jean Andeka		128,820	0.71
	Adam Bombolé	Independent	126,623	0.70
	François Nicéphore Kakese		92,737	0.51
	Josué Alex Mukendi	Independent	78,151	0.43
	Oscar Kashala		72,260	0.40
Total			18,143,104	100.00
Valid votes			18,143,104	95.94
Invalid/blank votes			768,468	4.06
Total votes			18,911,572	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			32,024,640	59.05
Source: African Elections Database

National Assembly

Party		Seats
	People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy	69
	UDPS–Tshisekedi	42
		30
	Social Movement for Renewal	28
	Movement for the Liberation of the Congo	21
		17
	Unified Lumumbist Party	17
	Union for the Congolese Nation	16
		15
		12
	Christian Democratic Party	9
		8
		8
		8
	Union of Federalist Nationalists of Congo	8
	RCD–Kisangani-Movement for Liberation	7
		6
		6
	United Congolese Convention	5
		5
		5
		5
		4
	Convention of Christian Democrats	4
		4
		4
		4
		4
		4
		3
		3
	DCF–CFDC	3
		3
		3
		3
	Alliance of Builders of Kongo	2
		2
		2
		2
		2
		2
		2
		2
		2
		2
		2
		2
		2
		2
	Union of Mobutist Democrats	2
	Union of Congolese Patriots	2
		1
	Congolese Alliance of Christian Democrats	1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
	Nationalist and Integrationist Front	1
	Innovative Forces for Union and Solidarity	1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
	National Alliance Party for Unity	1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
		1
	Rally of Congolese Democrats and Nationalists	1
		1
		1
		1
	Congolese Solidarity for Democracy	1
		1
		1
		1
	Liberal Christian Democrats Union	1
		1
	Union for the Nation	1
		1
		1
		1
	Independents	13
Vacant		8
Total		500
Source: African Elections Database

Aftermath

The rebels in the 2012 East D.R. Congo conflict said Kabila was not the legal winner of the election and must resign.

Notes

1. Kabila was supported by the Alliance of the Presidential Majority, which notably included the People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy.

References

• Democratic Republic of the Congo portal
• Politics portal

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9. Rukmini Callimachi (2011-11-29). "Congo Elections 2011: Vote Extended To Second Day". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
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11. Dread permeates Congo ahead of election results
12. Gettleman, Jeffrey (November 29, 2011). "In Whirlwind of an Election in Congo, Votes May Become Victims, Too". The New York Times. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
13. "DR Congo election results delayed by 48 hours". BBC News. 2011-12-07.
14. Adam Nossiter (December 12, 2011). "Congo President Kabila Denies Reports of Election Fraud". The New York Times. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
15. "Criticism grows over Congo election results". The Washington Post. Associated Press. 2011-12-12. Archived from the original on 2011-12-14. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
16. "DR Congo election: Joseph Kabila confirmed as winner". BBC News Africa. 2012-12-16. Retrieved 2012-12-16.
17. Congo News Agency (2011-12-16). "Supreme Court Rules Joseph Kabila Won Presidential Election". Congo Planet. Retrieved 2011-12-17.