Congolese Workers Party

(CWP; Parti Congolais du Travail), a revolutionary democratic party in the People’s Republic of the Congo, succeeding the National Revolutionary Movement. The CWP was established in December 1969 at the Constituent Congress, which also adopted the party rules. The plenary session of the Central Committee of the CWP held in December 1970 and January 1971 adopted a party program that provided for the noncapitalist development of the country. The Extraordinary Congress held in late 1972 adopted a new program, which reaffirmed the socialist orientation of the country’s development.

From its foundation the CWP has been the governing and sole party in the country. It directly supervises the central state agencies and exercises its influence on the local level through broad-based public organizations. In economic matters the CWP is devoting primary attention to the creation of a state sector and to making it the decisive element in the national economy. The basic principles of the party’s foreign policy are support of the national liberation movement and the development of all-around relations with the socialist countries. The party’s press organ is the weekly newspaper Etumba. M. Ngouabi is chairman of the Central Committee of the CWP.