On Thursday, three political parties in Congo-Brazzaville formed an “Alliance for Democratic Change in 2026” as President Denis Sassou Nguesso, a potential candidate in the next election, has been in power for nearly 40 years.

On Thursday, three political parties in Congo-Brazzaville launched an “Alliance for Democratic Change in 2026” in opposition to President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s potential candidacy in the upcoming election. President Nguesso has been in power for almost 40 years, and the new opposition platform seeks to bring about an alternation of power.

The three parties that allied are the Rally for Democracy and Development (RDD), led by former president Jacques Joachim Yhomby Opango, who died in 2020; the Movement of Republicans (MR); and the People’s Party (PAPE). Although these parties have no elected members in parliament, they frequently mobilize their activists to push for political change.

Jean-Jacques Serge Yhomby Opango, the vice-president of RDD and son of the party’s founder, said that the new platform aims to bring something new to Congo’s political landscape, which has been plagued by corruption. “There must be in 2026 a political and democratic alternation. We cannot let things happen like that, because the country is going down the drain,” he said.

The next presidential election is set to take place in 2026, and President Nguesso, who is almost 80 years old, has the option to run for a fifth term under the current constitution. The opposition alliance seeks to address issues such as electoral governance and the electoral file, which they argue are currently controlled by the ruling party, leading to unfair election results.

Since 2002, the opposition in Congo has contested the outcome of every election won by President Nguesso. The Alliance for democratic change hopes to change the status quo and bring about a shift in power in the upcoming election.