Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BRAZZAVILLE173
2009-06-08 13:50:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Brazzaville
Cable title:
SASSOU NGUESSO THROWS HIS HAT IN THE RING FOR JULY 12
how-toP R 081350Z JUN 09 FM AMEMBASSY BRAZZAVILLE TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1412 INFO AMEMBASSY BANGUI AMEMBASSY KINSHASA AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE AMEMBASSY LIBREVILLE AMEMBASSY BRAZZAVILLE
UNCLAS BRAZZAVILLE 000173
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV CF
SUBJECT: SASSOU NGUESSO THROWS HIS HAT IN THE RING FOR JULY 12
ELECTION
REF: BRAZZAVILLE 172
UNCLAS BRAZZAVILLE 000173
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV CF
SUBJECT: SASSOU NGUESSO THROWS HIS HAT IN THE RING FOR JULY 12
ELECTION
REF: BRAZZAVILLE 172
1.Congo(Brazzaville) President Denis Sassou Nguesso announced,
as expected, his candidacy for another seven-year term. The
announcement was made at a large rally in Brazzaville on June 6.
2.Though the announcement had been expected, the circumstances
were unusual. A crowd of thousands - certainly more than ten
thousand but fewer than the half-million reported on local
government controlled television - gathered to enjoy seven live
bands and to hear numerous speeches exhorting the President to
run.
3.The pro-Sassou orators, along with others who said they
represented women, civil society, and youth, included:
David Charles Ganao of the UFD, who told a strange parable
originating from the unlikely source of Andrei Gromyko, to the
effect that it is preferable to wear one's old comfortable shoes
than to don new ones.
Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas, Minister of Fisheries, read a message
of support from his father, Bernard Kolelas, head of the MCDDI.
Bernard Kolelas was forced into exile for about a decade at the
end of the civil war in 1997, and
Former Prime Minister Jacques Joachim Yhombi-Opango.
4.Whatever the numbers who attended, the large rally was a
tribute to the skills of its organizers, who reportedly offered
a t-shirt and 2,000 francs (a little over $4.00, a typical taxi
fare or the cost of a beer) to each attendee.
5.Correction: In reftel, we mentioned that the campaign would
begin on June 20; the formal campaign actually begins June 26,
to comply with the two-week statutory period prior to the July
12 election.
EASTHAM
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV CF
SUBJECT: SASSOU NGUESSO THROWS HIS HAT IN THE RING FOR JULY 12
ELECTION
REF: BRAZZAVILLE 172
1.Congo(Brazzaville) President Denis Sassou Nguesso announced,
as expected, his candidacy for another seven-year term. The
announcement was made at a large rally in Brazzaville on June 6.
2.Though the announcement had been expected, the circumstances
were unusual. A crowd of thousands - certainly more than ten
thousand but fewer than the half-million reported on local
government controlled television - gathered to enjoy seven live
bands and to hear numerous speeches exhorting the President to
run.
3.The pro-Sassou orators, along with others who said they
represented women, civil society, and youth, included:
David Charles Ganao of the UFD, who told a strange parable
originating from the unlikely source of Andrei Gromyko, to the
effect that it is preferable to wear one's old comfortable shoes
than to don new ones.
Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas, Minister of Fisheries, read a message
of support from his father, Bernard Kolelas, head of the MCDDI.
Bernard Kolelas was forced into exile for about a decade at the
end of the civil war in 1997, and
Former Prime Minister Jacques Joachim Yhombi-Opango.
4.Whatever the numbers who attended, the large rally was a
tribute to the skills of its organizers, who reportedly offered
a t-shirt and 2,000 francs (a little over $4.00, a typical taxi
fare or the cost of a beer) to each attendee.
5.Correction: In reftel, we mentioned that the campaign would
begin on June 20; the formal campaign actually begins June 26,
to comply with the two-week statutory period prior to the July
12 election.
EASTHAM