Kabila seeking to cement DRC parliamentary control, keep Bemba in check

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2006

KINSHASA (AFP) — Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila was engaged in political horse-trading to form a coalition as parliamentary election results released on Friday saw his bloc fall short of an absolute majority. Provisional results from July 30's landmark elections gave Kabila's Alliance of the Presidential Majority (AMP) bloc more than 200 seats in the country's new 500-seat National Assembly -- but without the hoped-for absolute majority.

Results compiled by AFP from provisional figures released by the DRC's independent electoral commission showed the AMP winning between 208 and 230 seats and presidential wannabe Jean-Pierre Bemba's Rally of Congolese Nationalists (RCN) taking second place with around 100 seats. The results mirrored those of the...