General elections were held in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 30 July 2006 for the President of the Republic and all 500 seats of the National Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament. They were the first relatively free multiparty elections since 1960, just before independence from Belgium, and the first since the overthrow of longtime leader Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997. Incumbent president Joseph Kabila, who led the transitional government formed after the Second Congo War in 2003, ran as an independent candidate and defeated Jean-Pierre Bemba of the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC). Kabila was inaugurated for his first term under the country's new constitution on 6 December 2006.

The polls were boycotted by the veteran opposition leader, Étienne Tshisekedi, and his party Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UPDS), who complained of fraud. The international community donated $460 million to fund the elections and deployed the world's largest UN peacekeeping operation, MONUC, to help the stability of the election. While the election was conducted relatively peacefully, the collection of the results proved chaotic, leading to armed clashes and growing fears of instability. As a result, DRC election officials announced that they would begin to release partial results earlier instead of only announcing the final count on 20 August."Partial DRC election results to be released", Independent Online, 7 August 2006

On 20 August, the CEI released its full provisional presidential election results, indicating that neither candidate was able to secure a majority, which led to a run-off election on 29 October. On that day, voters went to the polls to vote in: a run-off election for the Presidency, as no candidate had obtained more than 50 percent of the first-round vote. an election of provincial parliaments "Publication du calendrier de la suite des opérations électorales" , CEI, 31 July 2006

On 15 November, the CEI released its full provisional results for the presidential election's second round, indicating that Joseph Kabila had won with 58.05 percent. The results were, however, rejected by Bemba who claimed irregularities. On 27 November, the DRC Supreme Court confirmed that Kabila had won the election, and he was sworn in as president on 6 December.

The election results reflected the east–west divide in the DRC, with the first round seeing Kabila receiving at least 70 percent of the vote in the eastern provinces of Orientale, Katanga, South Kivu, North Kivu and Maniema. Bemba received more votes in the west, especially in Kinshasa, Bas-Congo, Kasaï-Occidental, and Équateur. The second round also saw a similar split and Bemba received nearly 100 percent of the vote in his home province of Équateur.

In the parliamentary elections Kabila's People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) emerged as the largest party, winning 111 of the 500 seats, followed by Bemba's MLC with 64 seats. Kabila's coalition, the Alliance of the Presidential Majority (AMP), was later joined by several other parties, notably Antoine Gizenga's Unified Lumumbist Party and Nzanga Mobutu's Union of Mobutist Democrats, giving it a majority in the National Assembly.

Registration and voter turnout Over 25 million people registered to vote for the elections, in a country where the exact population is not known, but is likely in excess of 60 million. The Independent Electoral Commission (CEI or La Commission Electorale Indépendante) reported a voter turnout of 80 percent."DRC records 80% voter turnout" , South African Broadcasting Corporation, 20 August 2006

Candidates Thirty-three people registered as candidates for the Presidency "List of definitive candidates to the presidential elections" , CEI, July 2006 and 9,000 for the 500 seats in the federal parliament."First results posted in DR Congo", BBC News, 2006-07-31

The initial presidential favourites were Joseph Kabila, the incumbent, and Jean-Pierre Bemba, one of the four vice-presidents.

Banyingela Kasonga (APE) Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo (MLC) and Vice-president Jean Marinaque – independent Alou Bonioma Kalokola – independent Eugène Diomi Ndongala (DC) Antoine Gizenga (PALU) Bernard Emmanuel Kabatu Suila (USL) Joseph Kabila Kabenge – independent & incumbent Gérard Kamanda wa Kamanda (FCN) Oscar Kashala Lukumuenda (U. A) Norbert Likulia Bolongo – independent Roger Lumbala (RCDN) Guy-Patrice Lumumba – independent and son of former Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba Vincent de Paul Lunda-Bululu (RSF) Pierre Anatole Matusila Malungeni Ne Kongo – independent Christophe Mboso N'Kodia Pwanga (CRD) Antipas Mbusa Nyamuisi (Forces du Renouveau) Alafuele Mbuyi Kalala (RNS) Nzanga Mobutu (UDEMO) – son of former President Joseph Mobutu/Mobutu Sese Seko Florentin Mokonda Bonza (CDC) Timothée Moleka Nzulama (UPPA) Justine Mpoyo Kasa-Vubu (MD) Jonas Mukamba Kadiata Nzemba (ADECO) Paul Joseph Mukungubila Mutombo – independent Osée Muyima Ndjoko (R2D) Arthur Z'ahidi Ngoma (Camp de la Patrie) and Vice-president Jacob Niemba Souga (CPC) Marie-Thérèse Nlandu Mpolo Nene (CONGO-PAX) Wivine N'Landu Kavidi (UDR) Cathérine Marthe Nzuzi wa Mbombo (MPR/Fait privé) Joseph Olengankoy Mukundji (FONUS) Pierre Pay-Pay wa Syakasighe (DCF-COFEDEC) Azarias Ruberwa Manywa (RCD) and Vice-president Hassan Thassinda Uba Thassinda (CAD)

Campaign

Joseph Kabila and Azarias Ruberwa In the months leading up to the general election, political actors within the transitional government's presidential sphere became increasingly active, making their campaign strategies more visible. As voter identification and registration advanced, top officials relied on public appearances, provincial tours, and targeted political messaging to consolidate support. President Joseph Kabila placed himself at the center of these efforts by beginning with a high-profile voter registration in Kinshasa on 31 August 2005, an event that coincided with the registration of Vice Presidents Azarias Ruberwa and Jean-Pierre Bemba and effectively marked the unofficial start of campaigning, before traveling to Matadi in Bas-Congo, where Vice President Abdoulaye Yerodia Ndombasi had already mobilized local support and encouraged the "Ne Kongo" electorate to back the PPRD. The PPRD also intensified its presence through regional initiatives. Deputy Secretary-General Marie-Ange Lukiana Mufwankolo, accompanied by Kinshasa governor Jean Kimbunda, led a strong campaign in Kikwit alongside popular musician Werrason. As part of this outreach, Lukiana donated large quantities of fuel to Société Nationale d'Électricité (SNEL) for the reactivation of the town's thermal power plant, an act that generated significant goodwill among residents of a region where electricity was scarce. During his own field visits, Kabila drew large crowds at registration centers and along the streets of Matadi, publicly praising the conduct of voter enrollment and quietly assessing the political climate in Bas-Congo.

Ruberwa, head of the RCD, shaped his campaign around institutional rhetoric and symbolic actions, notably registering as a voter in Kinshasa, far from his native South Kivu and the party's traditional support base, and presenting this gesture as a call for citizens to move beyond ethnic or tribal loyalties and instead judge candidates by competence, patriotism, governance, and experience. The RCD itself had been born out of the early stages of the Second Congo War, triggered in July 1998 when President Laurent-Désiré Kabila, suspecting a coup plot, removed Rwandan General James Kabarebe from his command and expelled all RPA troops, provoking Rwanda and Uganda to mobilize support for a new rebellion. On 2 August 1998, mutinous Congolese soldiers, backed by the RPA, Uganda's UPDF, Burundi's FAB, and remnants of Mobutu's ex-FAZ, formed the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie (RCD) as a rebel group, with its military branch organized as the Armée Nationale Congolaise (ANC). By March 1999, rivalries between Rwanda and Uganda produced a schism that split the movement into a Kigali-aligned RCD-Goma and a Uganda-aligned RCD-ML, while the rebellion became notorious for massacres of civilians, attacks on refugee settlements, and acts of terror across the Kivus before formally transitioning into a political party in 2003.

During his campaign, Ruberwa used the party's seventh-anniversary celebrations, timed shortly after voter registration in Kinshasa, to portray the RCD as a defender of democratic norms during the transition, instructing party members to monitor electoral fairness and expressing readiness to engage with the UDPS, including support for restoring Étienne Tshisekedi's party to full legal recognition and its claim to the UDPS emblem. His attendance at the closing ceremony at Stade Cardinal Malula also broadened his urban appeal in Kinshasa.

Jean-Pierre Bemba Although Jean-Pierre Bemba, like the other presidential figures, completed his voter registration in Kinshasa, the MLC leader often projected a deliberately ambivalent posture during moments of heightened political tension, most notably on 30 June 2005, when he spoke as though he were not part of the governing structure, openly questioning the government's official death toll from protest-related violence and demanding accountability.

Inside the MLC, electoral preparations took on a formal structure through an ideological seminar held from 1 to 5 August. Even though Bemba kept a low profile, his influence permeated the discussions, and at the meeting's close, Executive Secretary Thomas Luhaka set out the party's goals: winning at every electoral tier and promoting the rule of law and development, framed as the core principles that had justified the party's earlier armed struggle.

Conduct

At least six people were killed in violent street protests in the run-up to the election."World leaders back Congo polls as democracy test" , South African Broadcasting Corporation, 29 July 2006

As of 30 July, most polling stations were reported to have opened on time, with the election remaining peaceful."Historic elections get under way in DRC" , South African Broadcasting Corporation, 30 July 2006 The election closely followed an agreement with Ituri militias on 28 July, an agreement which MONUC has stated "greatly enhances the security situation in the province in the lead-up to the historic DRC elections.""MONUC: Ituri militia agreements are very important for elections security" , MONUC, 28 July 2006

Violence in Kasai Presumed supporters of Étienne Tshisekedi burned polling stations and voting materials in the city of Mbuji-Mayi, capital of East Kasai province, on Sunday to prevent the elections being held. The elections were extended until Monday and riot police were deployed."Congo voting extended in area of boycott", CNN, 31 July 2006 The Economist stated President Kabila was "making full use of his control of the security services and his monopoly of the state media" to secure the election.Hold your breath for the big one| economist.com| 6 July 2006 A report by Human Rights Watch detailed violence in the campaign. In one raid, "agents of the special police" stormed a Christian television station, arresting a pastor critical of the political process, beating technicians and destroying the broadcasting equipment. The government also imprisoned a journalist for "insulting the head of state." Shooting of protestors by soldiers was routine.Human Rights Watch: World Report 2007Stuart Stevens' ... Past Clients| Penn Bullock| 29 October 2012| tnr.com| accessed 29 October 2012

Fraud allegations On the day of the election three vice-presidents and candidates complained of vote rigging. Bemba, Ruberwa and Z'Ahidi said "Perhaps we are heading for a masquerade or a parody of elections".Congo drone crash compounds EU soldiers' image problem, Euobserver, 31 July 2006.

Clashes in Kinshasa