Voters in the Democratic Republic of Congo are electing a new parliament on Sunday.

The ruling party of longtime President Denis Sassou-Nguesso and its allies are expected to hang on to their majority.

More than two million people are eligible to vote in the oil-rich central Africa country.

They will be electing nearly 140 members of parliament.

President Sassou-Nguesso first seized power in a 1979 coup. After losing a poll in 1992, he re-took power in 1997 following a bloody civil war.

The Republic of Congo has vast oil and mineral riches and stretches from the Atlantic Coast to the forests of Central Africa. Most of its four million people live in extreme poverty.