Sawt Falasteen - Congo-Brazzaville president vows to keep power as campaign kicks off

Thousands of supporters turned out to watch Sassou Nguesso parade in an open-topped convertible at a rally held by the president's Congolese Labour Party (PCT) in the country's economic and oil capital Pointe-Noire, on the Atlantic coast.

Campaigning will end on March 13, with the first round of voting on March 15.

Six opposition candidates have formally confirmed they will be standing, including first-time 34-year-old candidate Destin Gavin, from the Republican Movement (MR).

But the fragmented and muzzled opposition stands little chance of winning, with the ruling party promising a "wave" in favour of its "patriarch", according to roadside campaign posters.

"Have no fear, on March 15, we will win!" Sassou Nguesso told the rally, dressed in a white shirt adorned with an elephant.

The career military officer first led Congo under the one-party system from 1979 to 1992 before losing the country's first multi-party elections to former prime minister Pascal Lissouba.

He overthrew Lissouba in a civil war to return to power in 1997.

Earlier this month, he announced he would be seeking a new five-year term, which, according to the constitution, would be his last.

Sassou Nguesso is one of Africa's longest-ruling leaders after Paul Biya of Cameroon, who has been in office since 1982, and Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who took power in a 1979 coup.

He was the victor in 2002 and 2009 and was able to stand again -- and win -- in 2016 and 2021 after a constitutional change that removed the upper age limit of 70 and extended the maximum number of terms of office.

- Contested elections -

Congo-Brazzaville, a former French colony, is rich in oil but nearly half of its six million people live below the poverty line.

While many of the young people bearing T-shirts with the president's likeness in the crowd at Saturday's rally in Pointe-Noire expressed confidence in Sassou Nguesso, some pointed to the country's economic worries.

"We came here to support him, but the Congolese people are suffering. What we want is work," says Flora Kouka, a nurse.

At Saturday's rally, Sassou Nguesso touted his economic record all the same, pointing to the development of the roads, fossil fuel sector and farming, and conceded he would have to pass the baton at some point.

"Our generation is laying the groundwork for the youth to pick up the torch one day," he said.

His political opponents have systematically contested all of his election victories since 2002.

Two candidates who ran in the 2016 elections -- General Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko and Andre Okombi Salissa -- are still being held after convictions for "attacking internal security" in 2018 and 2019.

They had strongly disputed the official results, which gave Sassou Nguesso 60 percent of the vote.

NGOs and civil society groups regularly condemn violations of civil liberties and threats against political opponents.

The president is nonetheless reputed to have brought a degree of stability back to the country scarred by civil war in the 1990s and to a region plagued by conflict.

K.AbuTaha--SF-PST