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Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development

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Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development
Mouvement congolais pour la démocratie et le développement intégral
LeaderGuy Brice Parfait Kolélas (2009–2017)
Bernard Kolélas (until 2009)
Founded3 August 1989
HeadquartersBrazzaville, Republic of the Congo
IdeologyLiberalism
Conservatism
Political positionCentre to centre-right
International affiliationLiberal International (observer)[1]
ColorsBlue and yellow
National Assembly
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Website
Official website

The Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development (French: Mouvement congolais pour la démocratie et le développement intégral; MCDDI) is a liberal political party in the Republic of the Congo, led by Bernard Kolélas until his death in 2009. His son, Guy Brice Parfait Kolélas, has led the party since then until his death in 2021. The MCDDI is an observer party of Liberal International.[1]

History

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The party was co-founded by Kolélas and renowned novelist and writer Sony Lab'ou Tansi; its statutes were deposited at the Ministry of the Interior on 3 August 1989.[2] Kolélas was the MCDDI's candidate in the August 1992 presidential election, in which he placed second behind Pascal Lissouba of the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS).

Didier Sengha, an MCDDI deputy in the National Assembly, left the MCDDI in April 1995[3] and founded a new party, the Party of Unity, Work and Progress (PUTP), in May 1995. The new party said that the MCDDI had abandoned its principles[4] and that Kolélas controlled the MCDDI in an autocratic manner;[3] Kolélas, in turn, denounced Sengha as a criminal,[3][4] saying that he was guilty of embezzlement and misappropriating funds.[4]

The MCDDI and the Congolese Labour Party (PCT) of President Denis Sassou Nguesso signed an agreement on April 24, 2007 to form an alliance for the 2007 parliamentary election as well as subsequent local, senatorial, and presidential elections.[5][6] In the parliamentary election, held on June 24 and August 5, 2007, the party won 11 out of 137 seats in the National Assembly.[7]

At the MCDDI's First Convention, held in Brazzaville on 24–25 May 2008, Guy Brice Parfait Kolélas, a son of Bernard Kolélas, was designated as the Coordinator of the MCDDI National Executive Bureau and National Secretary for Development Strategies. In that capacity, he was considered the second ranking member of the party, after his father. However, his father was by that point an elderly man in apparently declining health (although present, he failed to even give the closing speech at the convention), and thus the son was effectively being designated as the MCDDI's de facto leader. It was also considered evident that he was being positioned to ultimately succeed his father.[8]

Bernard Kolélas died at the age of 76 on 13 November 2009.[9] The MCDDI Executive Bureau met on 23 January 2010 and decided that Guy Brice Parfait Kolélas would serve as Interim President of the MCDDI, in addition to his role as Coordinator of the Executive Bureau, until a party congress could be held. In its previous 20 years of existence under Bernard Kolélas, the MCDDI had never held a congress.[10]

Speaking to MCDDI supporters in June 2014, Kolélas sharply criticized the party's ally, the PCT, for failing to fulfill its promises. He complained that the MCDDI had been promised a variety of posts—"ambassadors, prefects, mayors and many other things"—but that the PCT had not followed through. Nevertheless, he said that he would not terminate the alliance, as it was "signed on the blood of our ancestors".[11]

Guy Brice Parfait Kolélas died on 22 March 2021, at the age of 61, after contracting COVID-19.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Observer Members". Liberal-international.org. Archived from the original on 5 July 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
  2. ^ Patrice Yengo, La guerre civile du Congo-Brazzaville, 1993-2002: "chacun aura sa part" (2006), Karthala Editions, page 62 (in French).
  3. ^ a b c John F. Clark, "Congo: Transition and the Struggle to Consolidate", in Political Reform in Francophone Africa (1997), ed. John F. Clark and David E. Gardinier, page 76.
  4. ^ a b c Political Parties of the World (6th edition, 2005), ed. Bogdan Szajkowski, page 140.
  5. ^ "Republic of Congo's parties in political alliance", Xinhua, April 26, 2007.
  6. ^ Willy Mbossa and Roger Ngombé, "Le MCDDI et le PCT de nouveau alliés pour gouverner ensemble", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, April 24, 2007 (in French).
  7. ^ For detailed results see Republic of the Congo parliamentary election, 2007 and "L'alliance présidentielle occupe 125 des 137 sièges parlementaires", Xinhua, August 25, 2007 (in French).
  8. ^ Joël Nsoni, "Guy Brice Parfait Kolélas, numéro deux du parti", La Semaine Africaine, number 2,796, 3 June 2008 (in French).
  9. ^ Thierry Noungou, "Parlement - Bernard Bakana Kolélas décédé ce 13 novembre à Paris", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 13 November 2009 (in French).
  10. ^ Thierry Noungou, "Les membres du bureau exécutif du MCDDI unanimes sur la tenue du congrès", Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 25 January 2010 (in French).
  11. ^ Jean Jacques Koubemba, "Vie des partis : le MCDDI dénonce son alliance avec le PCT", ADIAC, 23 June 2014 (in French).
  12. ^ Congo-Brazzaville: Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas dies from Covid on poll day
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