DRC: Parliament gives the green light for a historic constitutional referendum

The Democratic Republic of Congo  DRC is reaching a major milestone in its institutional history. On Tuesday evening, the National Assembly overwhelmingly approved the legal framework that will allow a referendum to be held on Congolese soil, with 348 votes in favor out of 351 cast nearly unanimous support from the deputies present in the chamber.

The adopted text leaves nothing to chance. It grants the Head of State the power to convene the popular consultation, entrusts its organization to the Independent National Electoral Commission, and precisely outlines the rules of the game: campaign modalities, counting procedures, and mechanisms for resolving electoral disputes.

One of the most structuring provisions of the text concerns the possibility of convening an expanded Constituent Assembly, should a draft new Constitution be submitted for a vote.

This body would go beyond the usual circle of national parliamentarians to include provincial deputies, provincial governors, and municipal councilors, thereby giving the constituent exercise a broader territorial foundation.

The legislative process is now following its natural course. The proposed law has been transmitted to the Senate for a second reading; approval by the upper house in the same terms is required before it can be sent to the President of the Republic for final promulgation.

A referendum in the DRC would represent an unprecedented political event in recent history for this country of 100 million inhabitants, potentially paving the way for a constitutional overhaul whose implications for the governance and stability  of the country remain to be assessed.

Gilbert FOTSO