Legislative Race: Presidential Coalition Does Not Win Majority

The Independent Electoral Commission released the legislative results today. Kabila's coalition, the Alliance of a Presidential Majority (AMP) garnered 200 seats while Jean Pierre Bemba's Rally of Congolese Nationalist (RCN) won 100 seats. The remaining 200 of the 500 seat parliament went to other parties and independent candidates. More than 9,700 candidates ran for the 500 seats.

Within the AMP and RCN coalitions, kabila's party, the PPRD won 111 of the 200 seats while Bemba's MLC won 64 of the 100 seats. The other 325 seats are split among 130 different groups. Click here for a comprehensive list of seats won by each party and independents in each of the provinces.

The new parliament is expected to be seated in 15 days. The parliament is responsible for choosing the prime minister. Since no one party or alliance won a majority, the diverse groupings will have to work together to arrive at a consensus as to who will be appointed as prime minister.