General elections were held in the Belgian Congo on 22 May 1960, in order to create a government to rule the country following independence as the Republic of the Congo (Congo-Léopoldville), scheduled for 30 June. The 137-seat Chamber of Deputies was elected by men over the age of 21. The seats were filled by district-based lists, although only two parties, the Mouvement National Congolais-Lumumba (MNC-L) and the Parti National du Progrès, submitted lists in more than one district. The MNC-L, led by Patrice Lumumba, won the most seats and Lumumba was confirmed as Prime Minister by Parliament after forming a coalition that included the Parti Solidaire Africain, Centre de Regroupment Africain and other parties. Voter turnout was 81.8%. Following the election, an 84-seat Senate was elected by Provincial Assembly members, and the two chambers elected Joseph Kasa-Vubu of ABAKO as President after some days of turmoil. Background Belgian rule of the Congo Colonial rule in the Congo began in the late 19th century. King Leopold II of Belgium, frustrated by Belgium's lack of international power and prestige, attempted to persuade the Belgian government to support colonial expansion around the largely unexplored Congo Basin. The Belgian government's ambivalence about the idea led Leopold to eventually create a state on his own account, achieving international recognition for the Congo Free State in 1885. By the turn of the century, however, the violence of Free State officials against indigenous Congolese and the ruthless system of economic extraction had led to intense diplomatic pressure on Belgium to take official control of the country, which it did in 1908, creating the Belgian Congo. The colony was divided into six provinces: Léopoldville, Équateur, Orientale, Kivu, Kasaï, and Katanga. The city of Léopoldville was designated as the capital in 1923. Belgian rule in the Congo was based around the "colonial trinity" (trinité coloniale) of state, missionary and private company interests. The privileging of Belgian commercial interests meant that capital sometimes flowed back into the Congo and that individual regions became specialised. The country was split into nesting, hierarchically organised administrative subdivisions, and run uniformly according to a set "native policy" (politique indigène). As early as the 1920s, the Congo possessed one of the densest colonial regimes in Africa. The administration was heavily involved in the life of the Congolese; Belgian functionaries (government civil servants) closely monitored and enforced agricultural production, provided medical services to many residents, and