In 1991 Sassou was stripped of his executive powers by the National Conference and allowed to remain as ceremonial head of state until elections could be called. Marxism was similarly abandoned. In 1992 elections were duely held and won by Pascal Lissouba with Sassou coming third. Lissouba was the first democratically elected president of the Republic of Congo with Sassou remaining as main opposition leader. Within a year Lissouba was accused of rigging the presidential election and conflict had broken out, however was largely quashed with the intervention of Gabon and the Organisation of African Unity. As the 1997 election approached with both Sassou and Lissouba both standing, tensions erupted into civil war with Angola invading the country in support of Sassou.

On 14th October Lissouba fled the country and Sassou was restored to power and remains there to date having secured 88.57% of the votes in the 2021 election with his nearest challenger, Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas, finishing second with 7.84%. The situation in the Republic of Congo is considered relatively stable today although there are continued reports of sporadic rebel group activity in the country together with large numbers of displaced people. Congo Brazzaville is in 149th place out of 191 countries and territories in 2021 when ranked in terms of life expectancy, literacy, access to knowledge and the living standards with a life expectancy of 63.52 years (2021) and a poverty rate in 2020 of 52.5%, mainly in rural areas. Find out more about the Republic of Congo in our Congo Brazzaville profile pages above.