7 Key Takeaways: Cost of Politics
7 Key Takeaways: Cost of Politics
Population: 99 million
Head of Government: President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo
Ruling party/coalition: Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social/ Union Sacrée
Last election: December 2023
Next election: 2028
Number of registered voters: 44 million (2023)
Annual salary of member of legislature: US$60,000-252,000 (figures are not public and contested within this range)
Year of study: 2024
On average, the candidates surveyed spent $76,000. 65% of candidates surveyed spent between $40,000 and $90,000, whilst 17.7% spent more than $100,000, the amount regarded as necessary for a competitive campaign.
63% of respondents described their main source of political funding as coming from own resources
MPs spend between 25-60% of their monthly income to meet the demands of their constituents
Candidates surveyed said they gave cash of between $2-5 per voter during their political meetings, totaling as much as $10,000 and $15,000 of their overall spend.
With national inflation reaching 33% and the Congolese franc depreciating against the US dollar by almost 20%, some candidates implemented cost-cutting strategies such as transporting cheaper campaign materials from neighboring countries such as the Republic of Congo, or sometimes even from Europe.
Women candidates interviewed admitted to being more vulnerable to harassment from wealthy colleagues who can even seek to take advantage of their lack of resources for sexual favours.
While almost all political parties paid deposits of 1,600,000 Congolese francs (around $573) for the registration of each candidate, their participation in campaign financing was marginal and unevenly distributed. Interviewees claimed to have received between $0 and $10,000 from their political party.
Population: 99 million
Head of Government: President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo
Ruling party/coalition: Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social/ Union Sacrée
Last election: December 2023
Next election: 2028
Number of registered voters: 44 million (2023)
Annual salary of member of legislature: US$60,000-252,000 (figures are not public and contested within this range)
Year of study: 2024
Key Findings
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Context
- The Congolese National Assembly has 500 seats. Deputies are elected by direct universal suffrage for a renewable five-year term. The electoral system varies according to the number of seats to be filled in each constituency, defined by territory, city and grouping of communes for the city of Kinshasa. In constituencies with one seat to be filled, the simple majority system prevails, while in constituencies with two or more seats to be filled, voting is by proportional list system open to a single preferential route, with application of the highest remainder rule. If two or more lists obtain an equal number of votes for the last seat to be filled, the seat is awarded to the oldest candidate.
- According to the final results of the national legislative elections, the presidential party and its allies, grouped within the Sacred Union of the Nation (USN), won a large majority, while the opposition, with barely thirty seats at this stage, was in the minority. International electoral observers noted that the legal procedures for compiling results were not respected, undermining the transparency of this part of the process.
- In accordance with the admissibility threshold established by article 22 of the 2022 electoral law, party lists that do not reach 60% of the seats represented are declared inadmissible. However, the introduction of a threshold has not had the desired effect, since political parties have not limited the number of candidates, but have endeavored to line up a sufficient number of candidates to exceed the threshold. In 2023 the election commission registered for than 25,000 candidates for the 484 seats.
Cost of politics
- Aspiring candidates complain that incumbents running for re-election drive up the cost of campaigning, due to the "pre-campaign" expenses incurred to satisfy the demands of voters who, by the time of the campaign, often make little distinction between a candidate and a deputy.
- Voter expectations are high, and the pressure on candidates to meet them is just as great. For example, it is unthinkable for the candidates surveyed to organize a political rally without at least covering the cost of transport. Otherwise, they say, they run the risk of verbal or physical violence and/or, in the best-case scenario, of "voters leaving with the chairs" rented for the occasion. In addition to individual donations, community donations, such as the purchase of chairs and baffles for churches or sandbags to combat erosion, find their way into candidates' budgets.
- The weakness of public services, which fail to meet the basic needs of the Congolese people in terms of access to health, education and local infrastructure, as well as the low purchasing power of voters, contribute to this hijacking of the role of MPs, who risk political suicide if they fail to meet the demands of their electorate
- After donations to voters, the purchase of visibility materials such as banners, posters, leaflets and calico banners represented the second largest item of expenditure for candidates, notably due to the increase in the prices of service providers in the run-up to the elections. Half of the candidates surveyed also incurred expenses for security personnel, some of them professional, but more often young people recruited from among their political supporters.
- Without money, a candidate's chances of winning a seat are slim to none, but money is not the only determinant of the vote. Other factors, such as a candidate's ethnicity, local roots and political family, or promises of employment, also determine the color of the ballot box.
Source of funds
- The candidates interviewed relied mainly on their personal savings for their campaign, giving individual start-up capital a particular importance and consequently limiting the chances of under-represented groups such as women and youth.
- Due to excessively high interest rates, the ause of bank loans iis very low. In addition to the risks of indebtedness, the majority of candidates believe that they would not have obtained a loan agreement because banks do not finance political projects that are perceived as too risky.
- Fundraising appeals from political aspirants are generally frowned upon by Congolese voters, who often consider that having money is a sine qua non for entering the electoral race.
- There is a lack of transparency in the allocation of funds by politicalparties. The distribution depends on the candidate's estimated potential, which is often measured by the social projects he or she has completed in the riding, his or her status and seniority within the party. Some female candidates lamented the discrimination against fthem when it comes to the distribution of funding.
Drivers of the cost of politics
- The open-list proportional preferential electoral system for constituencies increases the costs of politics in two ways. Firstly, it increases the temptation for candidates to respond to the various demands of voters, and secondly, it puts the pressure of funding more on the candidates themselves than on the political partiesThe lack of transparency regarding the salaries of members of parliament fuels voters distrust of the Congolese political elite.
- The lack of transparency regarding the salaries of MPs, which are perceived to be very high, has fuelled voters' distrust of the Congolese political elite. According to the focus group participants in this study, MPs earn too much for the work they do. They believe that 95% of candidates run to make a quick buck, and that only 5-10% have a real social project.
- Political parties are underfunded and rely on the contributions of those elected into the legislator for sizeable contributions.
Implications
- The high cost of politics is eroding the raison d'être of Congolese democracy by skewing the representativeness of the National Assembly in favor of the better-off. In the words of one candidate, the principle of representative democracy is being replaced by a "democracy of the wealthy".
- Rising emoluments fuel voter disillusionment with democracy and distrust of the Congolese political class.
- Only women and young people from politically committed families can hope to have sufficient resources for the electoral battle, while others risk having to campaign for a running mate who has supported them.
- The high costs of politics are also likely to drive candidates who have invested heavily in their political careers to corruption, as the difficulty of accepting electoral defeat is commensurate with the investment they have already made to seek or hold office.
Recommendations
- The government and the legislature must be more transparent about the remuneration of MPs (including emoluments and bonuses), so as to increase the confidence of the Congolese people in their elected representatives and the political class in general.
- Revising and implementing the 2008 law on public funding of political parties would not only improve the stability of political parties and increase their competitiveness, but would also enhance women's political participation, thanks to the eligibility requirements that party lists must have equal numbers of women and men.
- Regulate the financing of election campaigns, including a ceiling on campaign expenditure with penalties for exceeding the ceiling, in order to balance electoral competition by ensuring that candidates with the most modest resources are not unfairly penalised. If applied, the spending cap would particularly support the competitiveness of candidacies from women, young people and people with disabilities.
- Government and donors to support initiatives aimed at strengthening the political participation of young people, and in particular their ability to mobilise funds and build networks.
- Facilitate forums for dialogue focused on political issues between current and potential elected representatives and constituents.
