2011 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election

General elections were held in Democratic Republic of the Congo on 28 November 2011 for the President of the Republic and all 500 seats of the National Assembly. A facultative run-off on 26 February 2012 was shelved with a change in election laws allowing a presidential candidate to win with a plurality of the vote. Incumbent president Joseph Kabila, an independent candidate, was constitutionally eligible to run for a second term and defeated Étienne Tshisekedi of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress. Kabila was inaugurated on 20 December 2011.

The government passed laws to abolish the second round of the presidential election and tried to change the legislative electoral system from proportional to majority representation, which was strongly criticized by the opposition.

International organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union raised concerns about the transparency of the elections.

On 8 November 2011 opposition leader Étienne Tshisekedi declared himself president saying the majority of people turned against President Kabila.

On 28 November 2011 the elections were held under difficult conditions. Voting was characterized by incidents of violence throughout the country. Because of violence and delays in the delivery of ballot boxes elections were extended by a second day.