September 24, 2022

Setback for CAR President As Highest Court Stops Constitutional Change


Trustworthy and indepth news stories are more important now than ever.
Support our newsroom by MAKING A CONTRIBUTION HERE
Faustin Archange Touadera

BANGUI – The Central African Republic’s top court on Friday annulled presidential decrees setting up a committee to rewrite the constitution, which had sparked fears Faustin Archange Touadera was seeking a third term in office.

In a legal setback for the president, the Constitutional Court declared that the decrees “are unconstitutional and invalid” and noted the basic law could only be revised after a Senate has been set up.

The 65-year-old president was first elected in 2016, then re-elected in a highly controversial poll in 2020, but the current constitution does not allow him to run again.

The court also said that any referendum on revising the constitution had to be initiated by the president but that he could not go against the oath he’d taken at his investiture to refrain from modifying the number and length of his mandates. 

Opposition and civil society groups on 27 August staged a protest in the capital Bangui against changing the constitution.

Early Friday, a heavy police presence and members of the UN peacekeeping force in the war-torn country were posted along the road leading to the court, according to an AFP journalist.

CAR authorities had in recent months organised demonstrations in favour of a revamped constitution, with more than 1,000 people turning out for such a gathering on August 6.

Less than a week later, Touadara said that “more and more voices are being raised to demand a modification of the constitution”.

His United Hearts Movement (MCU) in March had attempted to scrap the two-presidential term limit during a “republican dialogue” boycotted by the bulk of the opposition.

But the party rowed back on the idea in the face of public protest and criticism from the international community.

The 53-member committee was made up of representatives from the National Assembly, political parties, opposition and civil society, according to the annulled decree.

– ‘Resounding victory – 

On Friday, the main petitioner in the case Crepin Mboli-Goumba called the court ruling “a resounding victory for all democrats, wherever they are”.

A special adviser to the president said they accepted the court’s decision. “We are not worried,” Fidele Gouandjika told AFP.

“A constitutional coup is always possible,” he said.

After the decision was made public, calls to demonstrate went out via social media, drawing about a hundred protesters outside the constitutional court building.

Demonstrators whistled and called for the resignation of the court’s judges, before singing the national anthem and quickly dispersing. 

The move marks “a major blow for President Touadera who is going to have to rethink his strategy for a third term,” central Africa specialist Thierry Vircoulon, of the French Institute of International Relations, told AFP.

Touadera won a second term in 2020 with a 53.16-percent vote share in a controversial poll amid widespread insecurity in the CAR, which has been battling a decade-long civil war.

Less than one in three voters were able to cast a ballot, in a country of some five million which the UN says is the world’s second least developed nation.

We can't do quality journalism without your support

Perhaps it goes without saying — but producing quality journalism isn't cheap. At a time when newsroom resources and revenue are declining, The Chronicles remains committed to "Serving Your Right To Know The Truth". Stand with us as we document Rwanda's remarkable journey for you and the future generation. Do you value our journalism? We can't do it without you. Show us with your support by CONTRIBUTING HERE.
Email your news TIPS to info@chronicles.rw or WhatsApp +250788351327.
You can also find us on Signal

101 Comments

  1. Hello there! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established blog. Is it tough to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty fast. I’m thinking about setting up my own but I’m not sure where to start. Do you have any tips or suggestions? Thank you

  2. I loved as much as you’ll receive carried out right here.
    The sketch is tasteful, your authored subject matter stylish.
    nonetheless, you command get bought an nervousness over that you wish be delivering the following.
    unwell unquestionably come further formerly again as exactly the same nearly very often inside case you shield
    this increase.

  3. Yesterday, while I was at work, my sister stole my iphone and tested to see if it can survive a 25 foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My iPad is now broken and she has 83 views. I know this is completely off topic but I had to share it with someone!

  4. It’s in point of fact a nice and helpful piece of information. I’m satisfied that you shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.

  5. I love what you guys are up too. Such clever work and exposure! Keep up the superb works guys I’ve added you guys to my personal blogroll.

  6. Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I’ve truly enjoyed surfing around your blog posts. After all I will be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again very soon!

  7. Hello there, just became aware of your blog through Google, and found that it is really informative. I am going to watch out for brussels. I will appreciate if you continue this in future. Numerous people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!

  8. I loved as much as you will receive carried out right here. The sketch is tasteful, your authored subject matter stylish. nonetheless, you command get bought an nervousness over that you wish be delivering the following. unwell unquestionably come further formerly again since exactly the same nearly a lot often inside case you shield this increase.

  9. Greetings! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could find a captcha plugin for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having difficulty finding one? Thanks a lot!

  10. Thanks for this glorious article. One more thing to mention is that a lot of digital cameras arrive equipped with a new zoom lens that permits more or less of your scene for being included by ‘zooming’ in and out. These kind of changes in {focus|focusing|concentration|target|the a**** length are generally reflected within the viewfinder and on big display screen right on the back of the very camera.

  11. Fascinating blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A design like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog jump out. Please let me know where you got your design. With thanks

  12. Thanks for your submission. I also think that laptop computers have gotten more and more popular currently, and now are sometimes the only kind of computer utilised in a household. The reason is that at the same time potentially they are becoming more and more inexpensive, their processing power keeps growing to the point where they can be as powerful as personal computers out of just a few years back.

  13. Sweet blog! I found it while searching on Yahoo News. Do you have
    any suggestions on how to get listed in Yahoo News?
    I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there!

    Thank you

  14. Its like you read my mind! You seem to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with some pics to drive the message home a bit, but other than that, this is wonderful blog. An excellent read. I’ll definitely be back.

  15. Just wish to say your article is as amazing. The clarity in your post is simply cool and i can assume you are an expert on this subject. Fine with your permission allow me to grab your feed to keep up to date with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please keep up the enjoyable work.

  16. Thank you, I have recently been looking for information approximately this subject for a while and yours is the best I have found out till now.
    But, what in regards to the bottom line? Are you sure in regards to the supply?

  17. The very heart of your writing while sounding agreeable originally, did not work perfectly with me personally after some time. Someplace throughout the sentences you were able to make me a believer unfortunately just for a while. I still have a problem with your leaps in logic and you might do well to fill in those gaps. In the event that you actually can accomplish that, I will certainly end up being amazed.

  18. Thanks for this excellent article. One more thing to mention is that many digital cameras can come equipped with the zoom lens so that more or less of that scene being included simply by ‘zooming’ in and out. These changes in {focus|focusing|concentration|target|the a**** length are usually reflected inside viewfinder and on massive display screen right on the back of the camera.

  19. Hello this is kind of of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding knowledge so I wanted to get advice from someone with experience. Any help would be enormously appreciated!

  20. Hi there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it’s truly informative. I am going to watch out for brussels. I will appreciate if you continue this in future. Lots of people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!

  21. Its like you read my mind! You seem to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with some pics to drive the message home a bit, but other than that, this is wonderful blog. An excellent read. I’ll definitely be back.

  22. Thanks for your text. I would also like to say a health insurance broker also works well with the benefit of the particular coordinators of your group insurance policy. The health agent is given a summary of benefits searched for by somebody or a group coordinator. Such a broker really does is try to find individuals and also coordinators which usually best complement those requirements. Then he shows his suggestions and if both sides agree, the broker formulates legal contract between the two parties.

  23. Thanks for the concepts you write about through your blog. In addition, several young women who seem to become pregnant will not even try and get medical insurance because they dread they wouldn’t qualify. Although a few states now require that insurers offer coverage regardless of pre-existing conditions. Fees on these kind of guaranteed programs are usually greater, but when taking into consideration the high cost of medical care it may be the safer approach to take to protect your financial future.

  24. I think what you postedtypedbelieve what you postedtypedthink what you postedtypedbelieve what you postedtypedWhat you postedwrote was very logicala ton of sense. But, what about this?consider this, what if you were to write a killer headlinetitle?content?typed a catchier title? I ain’t saying your content isn’t good.ain’t saying your content isn’t gooddon’t want to tell you how to run your blog, but what if you added a titlesomethingheadlinetitle that grabbed a person’s attention?maybe get people’s attention?want more? I mean %BLOG_TITLE% is a little plain. You could look at Yahoo’s home page and see how they createwrite news headlines to get viewers interested. You might add a related video or a related pic or two to get readers interested about what you’ve written. Just my opinion, it could bring your postsblog a little livelier.

  25. Thanks for the suggestions you have provided here. Furthermore, I believe there are some factors that keep your automobile insurance premium decrease. One is, to contemplate buying automobiles that are in the good report on car insurance corporations. Cars which might be expensive are more at risk of being stolen. Aside from that insurance is also depending on the value of your car or truck, so the higher in price it is, then higher the actual premium you have to pay.

  26. I have taken note that of all kinds of insurance, medical insurance is the most controversial because of the discord between the insurance company’s duty to remain making money and the client’s need to have insurance coverage. Insurance companies’ earnings on health and fitness plans have become low, so some organizations struggle to profit. Thanks for the concepts you reveal through your blog.

  27. I feel this is one of the such a lot important information for me. And i’m satisfied reading your article. However wanna observation on few general things, The website taste is ideal, the articles is in reality nice : D. Just right task, cheers

  28. Heya i am for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It truly useful & it helped me out much. I hope to give something back and aid others like you helped me.

  29. Hello! This is kind of off topic but I need some advice from an established blog. Is it hard to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty fast. I’m thinking about setting up my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have any tips or suggestions? With thanks

  30. I?m impressed, I have to say. Actually hardly ever do I encounter a blog that?s both educative and entertaining, and let me tell you, you could have hit the nail on the head. Your idea is outstanding; the difficulty is something that not enough people are speaking intelligently about. I’m very pleased that I stumbled throughout this in my seek for one thing relating to this.

  31. I have learned result-oriented things by means of your weblog. One other thing I would really like to say is the fact newer pc os’s are likely to allow additional memory to be utilized, but they additionally demand more storage simply to function. If an individual’s computer can’t handle additional memory as well as newest software program requires that memory space increase, it can be the time to shop for a new Personal computer. Thanks

  32. I have noticed that charges for online degree specialists tend to be an incredible value. For instance a full 4-year college Degree in Communication with the University of Phoenix Online consists of 60 credits with $515/credit or $30,900. Also American Intercontinental University Online provides a Bachelors of Business Administration with a overall education course feature of 180 units and a tuition fee of $30,560. Online degree learning has made taking your college degree been so detailed more than before because you can certainly earn the degree from the comfort of your dwelling place and when you finish working. Thanks for other tips I have learned from your web-site.

  33. I have been exploring for a little for any high quality articles or blog posts on this sort of space . Exploring in Yahoo I finally stumbled upon this web site. Reading this information So i?m satisfied to show that I have a very excellent uncanny feeling I found out just what I needed. I most surely will make certain to don?t overlook this site and give it a glance on a continuing basis.

  34. One thing I would really like to reply to is that weightloss program fast can be performed by the perfect diet and exercise. Your size not merely affects appearance, but also the complete quality of life. Self-esteem, major depression, health risks, and physical abilities are afflicted in extra weight. It is possible to do everything right but still gain. If this happens, a condition may be the offender. While a lot of food and never enough exercise are usually at fault, common medical ailments and traditionally used prescriptions can certainly greatly enhance size. Thx for your post right here.

  35. Hey there! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and tell you I truly enjoy reading through your articles. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that go over the same subjects? Thanks a ton!

  36. Thanks for your write-up. I would love to remark that the first thing you will need to do is to see if you really need fixing credit. To do that you must get your hands on a copy of your credit rating. That should never be difficult, since the government mandates that you are allowed to have one free of charge copy of your credit report every year. You just have to check with the right people. You can either look at website for the Federal Trade Commission or perhaps contact one of the leading credit agencies instantly.

  37. Hi there! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any trouble with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing months of hard work due to no backup. Do you have any solutions to protect against hackers?

  38. My spouse and I absolutely love your blog and find most of your post’s to be just what I’m looking for. Would you offer guest writers to write content for you? I wouldn’t mind publishing a post or elaborating on a few of the subjects you write about here. Again, awesome weblog!

  39. Something more important is that when looking for a good on-line electronics store, look for web shops that are frequently updated, maintaining up-to-date with the newest products, the top deals, plus helpful information on products and services. This will ensure you are dealing with a shop that stays atop the competition and gives you what you ought to make intelligent, well-informed electronics expenditures. Thanks for the crucial tips I have really learned through your blog.

  40. What i do not realize is in reality how you’re now not really a lot more well-liked than you may be right now. You are so intelligent. You realize therefore significantly with regards to this matter, produced me individually believe it from numerous numerous angles. Its like men and women don’t seem to be fascinated until it’s something to accomplish with Woman gaga! Your own stuffs nice. Always deal with it up!

  41. Together with every thing that seems to be building within this subject matter, a significant percentage of points of view are actually quite radical. However, I am sorry, because I can not subscribe to your entire strategy, all be it radical none the less. It appears to us that your comments are actually not completely rationalized and in fact you are generally your self not even fully convinced of the argument. In any case I did enjoy examining it.

  42. What an eye-opening and thoroughly-researched article! The author’s meticulousness and capability to present intricate ideas in a understandable manner is truly commendable. I’m extremely enthralled by the scope of knowledge showcased in this piece. Thank you, author, for sharing your knowledge with us. This article has been a game-changer!

  43. What?s Happening i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I have found It absolutely helpful and it has helped me out loads. I hope to contribute & help other users like its helped me. Great job.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *