Denis Sassou Nguesso (born 23 November 1943) is a Congolese politician who has been the President of the Republic of the Congo since 1997; he was previously President from 1979 to 1992. During his first period as President, he headed the single-party regime of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT) for 12 years; following the introduction of multiparty politics in 1990, he lost executive powers as a result of the 1991 National Conference and was subsequently defeated in the 1992 presidential election, placing third. Five years later, he returned to power when his forces overthrew the democratically elected President Pascal Lissouba in the 1997 civil war. Following a transitional period, he won the 2002 presidential election, which lacked meaningful opposition participation; he was again re-elected under controversial circumstances in the 2009 presidential election. Sassou Nguesso is the President of the PCT Central Committee.
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