Marrakech – Rachid Talbi El Alami, Speaker of Morocco’s House of Representatives, represented King Mohammed VI on Thursday at the inauguration of Republic of Congo President Denis Sassou N’Guesso in Brazzaville.
The ceremony took place at the Stade de l’Unité in the Kintélé sports complex. Heads of state, foreign delegations, and members of the diplomatic corps accredited to Brazzaville attended the event. Sassou N’Guesso was sworn in for a new presidential term.
Talbi El Alami conveyed King Mohammed VI’s congratulations and greetings to the Congolese president. He also reaffirmed the monarch’s commitment to working alongside Sassou N’Guesso to strengthen Morocco-Congo cooperation within a multidimensional partnership aimed at shared African prosperity.
The sovereign had already addressed a congratulatory message to Sassou N’Guesso on March 19, following his reelection. In that message, the King expressed his best wishes for the Congolese leader’s continued service to his people. He also voiced his desire to deepen the fraternal ties between the two nations and expand bilateral cooperation.
Sassou N’Guesso, 82, won the March 15 presidential election with 94.82% of the vote, according to provisional results announced by Interior Minister Raymond Mboulou on March 17. The Constitutional Court later confirmed the outcome, declaring him elected with 94.9% of the vote on a turnout of 65.9%.
He faced six challengers in a race marked by opposition boycotts and a nationwide internet blackout on election day. The fifth term extends a rule that stretches back decades. Sassou N’Guesso first led Congo under a one-party system from 1979 to 1992.
He lost the country’s first multiparty elections that year but returned to power in 1997. A 2015 constitutional change scrapped term limits and the presidential age cap, allowing him to run for additional five-year terms.
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