Senate approves bill on constitutional referendums in the DR Congo
On Monday, the Senate of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) adopted a bill setting out the conditions for holding referendums. The text was unanimously approved by the 89 senators present. The opposition boycotted the vote. The National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, had already approved the bill. This creates, for the first time, a legal framework for holding constitutional referendums in the DR Congo. The bill was submitted to President Félix Tshisekedi for signature on Tuesday. In accordance with the constitution, he now has 15 days to sign it into law.
According to the text of the new bill, the President is responsible for calling a constitutional referendum. The Constituent Assembly, which would be tasked with drafting a new constitution in the event of a referendum, is to be chaired by the President of the National Assembly. Its members are to include Members of Parliament, senators, provincial councillors, provincial governors and local councillors.
Whilst Senate President Jean-Michel Sama Lukondé defends the reform as a means of enabling the Congolese people to exercise their sovereignty through a referendum, the opposition describes it as a power grab or a ‘constitutional coup’. Criticism is directed in particular at Article 41, under which the President has sole authority to determine whether there is a ‘significant dysfunction’ in state institutions and to initiate a constitutional amendment process. The complaint is that the term ‘significant dysfunction’ is not defined in any detail. Furthermore, critics fear that the provision could be used to circumvent the constitutional restrictions on constitutional amendments during a state of war or siege. As a state of siege has been in force in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri since 2021, such a referendum would currently be inadmissible under existing law. The opposition also warns that a new constitution could effectively remove the term limits for the president enshrined in the version that has been in force since 2006. Should a new constitution come into force, Tshisekedi’s two previous terms in office could be reset to zero, which would allow him to stand for re-election in 2028.
Back in May, the previously fragmented opposition had united under the Coalition Article 64 (C64) to oppose the proposed legislation. Protests have intensified in recent weeks. On 3 June, the C64 organised a nationwide general strike (“Ville morte”), calling on the population of the capital, Kinshasa, to stay at home. Last Friday, a sit-in protest against the bill took place outside the parliament building in Kinshasa. This initially led to clashes between opposition supporters and pro-government activists. The police subsequently broke up the rally using tear gas and live ammunition. Several people were injured in the clashes, including opposition politicians Martin Fayulu, Jean-Marc Kabund and Delly Sesanga.
The current political debate is taking place against a backdrop of significant security and health challenges, including the conflict with the M23 rebellion and the recent Ebola outbreak. Legal experts have cast doubt on the constitutionality of the bill and believe it is likely to be reviewed by the Constitutional Court. The Court could declare individual provisions or the entire bill to be unconstitutional. Meanwhile, political tensions in the country persist. The opposition has announced further protests for 8 July and is calling for Tshisekedi’s resignation.
Controversy over party register in Nigeria
On Tuesday, the Court of Appeal in Nigeria suspended the enforcement of a ruling that had ordered the removal of five opposition parties from the party register. Previously, the Federal High Court in the capital, Abuja, had instructed the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Monday to strike the parties from the register. In addition to ordering the deregistration of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), one of the country’s most significant opposition parties, the federal court also ordered the removal of the Action Peoples Party (APP), the Action Alliance (AA), the Accord Party (AP), and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
The Court of Appeal — the second-highest court in Nigeria’s judicial system — based its decision on an earlier order issued on 22 May. In that ruling, it had instructed the Federal High Court and the presiding judge of the panel, Justice Peter Lifu, to suspend proceedings until a pending appeal filed by the Accord Party had been decided. Despite this instruction, Justice Lifu delivered a judgment on Monday ordering the deregistration of the five parties from the electoral register. The Court of Appeal considered this as a disregard of a higher court’s directive and referred to the constitutional hierarchy of the courts. The court described Lifu’s conduct as judicial misconduct and as unworthy of a judge.
The proceedings were initiated by a lawsuit filed by the National Forum of Former Legislators. The association of former parliamentarians sought clarification on whether the INEC is constitutionally obliged to deregister political parties that fail to meet the constitutional requirements for registered parties. Under the Nigerian Constitution and relevant electoral laws, parties must either secure at least 25% of the vote in a previous presidential election in a federal state, or win at least one seat in an election at the national, state, or local level in order to be listed in the register of political parties. Following the Court of Appeal’s suspension of the judgement, the five parties remain registered for the time being and are permitted, until further notice, to nominate candidates for elections at both national and state level.
The court proceedings had drawn criticism from the opposition, particularly in view of the by-elections scheduled for 20 June in several states, as well as the general elections planned for 16 January 2027. The opposition warned, amongst other things, of a serious electoral and constitutional crisis. The situation is further complicated by tensions within the country’s main opposition parties. The Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, who came third in the last presidential election, had only left the ADC in May this year, thereby putting an end to plans to field a unified opposition candidate. Following significant internal disputes, some of which were settled in court, Atiku Abubakar — who served as Vice President from 1999 to 2007 and came second in the last presidential election — once again secured the ADC’s presidential nomination in the primaries.
Meanwhile, the incumbent president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had already secured his place as the APC’s presidential candidate once again in May during nationwide party primaries. Against the backdrop of an expected multi-party contest, analysts see the large number of competing candidacies as an advantage for the 74-year-old incumbent, who, despite relatively low approval ratings, may be able to position himself as the strongest contender.
In other news – World Cup Special
The teams from Cape Verde, Egypt and the DR Congo each made headlines with unexpected draws in their opening World Cup matches. Cape Verde, playing its first-ever World Cup match, held title favourites Spain to a 0–0 draw. Largely responsible for this success was goalkeeper Josimar José Evora Dias, also known as “Vozinha”. The 40-year-old saved seven dangerous Spanish attempts and, according to the statistics, prevented 2.21 expected goals. With a population of around half a million people, Cape Verde is the third-smallest country ever to qualify for a World Cup and is considered one of the tournament’s underdogs. Egypt also managed a 1–1 draw against Belgium. Emam Ashour initially put his team ahead with his first international goal. However, the advantage lasted only until Belgian substitute Romelu Lukaku came on, who, 23 seconds after coming on, forced an own goal from defender Mohamed Hany. Egypt thus narrowly missed out on their first victory in a World Cup match. The DR Congo secured another surprise draw on Wednesday against Portugal. Portugal took the lead after just six minutes, but the DR Congo equalised shortly before half-time. As a result, the DR Congo has already surpassed its performance from its first and until now only previous World Cup appearance in 1974 when it lost all of its group matches. Morocco and Brazil had also played out a 1–1 draw on Sunday. On Monday, Côte d’Ivoire beat Ecuador 1–0, ending Ecuador’s unbeaten run of 19 matches. Tunisia lost 1–5 to Sweden, after which the head coach was dismissed. On Tuesday, Senegal lost 1–3 to France and Algeria were beaten 0–3 by Argentina. On Thursday, Ghana defeated Panama 1–0, whilst South Africa concluded its second group match with a 1–1 draw against Czechia.