AFRICA/DR CONGO - The Constitutional Court’s decision paves the way for Kabila to stay in power for a third term

Wednesday, 25 May 2016 elections   politics  

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - The Constitutional Court ruling of May 11 states that the constitution permits the president of the republic to remain in office until the installation of the new elected president.
This is what is said in a note by Peace Network for Congo sent to Agenzia Fides.
"With the judgment of 11 May, the Court responded to a request for interpretation of some articles of the Constitution presented by more than 250 deputies, in a moment when the possibility of organizing the presidential elections by the end of 2016 is far away", the statement said. "To consecrate the principle of continuity of the State stated in article 69 of the Constitution, Article 70, paragraph 2 of the Constitution allows the President of the Republic to remain in office until the effective installation of the new elected President", is what is said in the judgment read by the President of the Court, Benoît Luamba.
"The Constitutional Court limits itself to a simple statement of the second paragraph of Article 70, refraining from making allusions to the organization of the presidential elections within the time fixed by the Constitution" underlines the Network for Peace in Congo.
"Furthermore, by stating that the current President remains in office until the installation of the new elected President, the Court declares that the President will remain in office until the organization of future presidential elections of which, however, does not specify any deadline or date", the statement said. "In this situation, the risk is that a President of the Republic has the green light to decide to remain at the helm of the country for an indefinite period (several months, several years, some five-year periods, a few decades), bringing always new reasons to continually postponing the elections", the document concludes. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 25/05/2016)


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