IFES Election Guide - Country Profile: DR Congo

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Region

DR Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Region: Africa

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: President Joseph KABILA
Head of Government: Prime Minister Augustin Matata PONYO
Assembly: DR Congo has a bicameral Parliament (Parlement) consisting of the Senate (Sénat) with 112 seats and the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) with 500 seats.

Description of electoral system:

The President is elected by plurality vote to serve a 5-year term.
The Prime Minister is appointed by the President, usually from the majority party or coalition in the National Assembly.
In the Senate (Sénat) 112 members are indirectly elected through an open-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms*. In the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale), 60 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms and 440 members are elected by open list proportional representation in multi-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.**

* Members are elected by regional legislatures. Each multi-member district corresponds to one of 26 provinces or Kinshasha. The magnitude of each district is 4, except Kinshasha, whose magnitude is 8. The electoral system is open-list PR. Former Presidents may be Senators ex officio.

** There are 109 multi-member districts in the list tier. Minimum magnitude is 2. Each voter gets two votes: one in either tier.