A constitutional referendum was held in the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

on 20 January 2002, with results showed over 87% voted in favour with a voter turnout of 77.5%.

Background

The proposed new constitution would make the country a

presidential republic A presidential, strong-president, or single-executive system (sometimes also congressional system) is a form of government in which a head of government (usually titled " president") heads an executive branch that derives its authority and l ...

. It had been written in 2001 and approved by a

National Transitional Council The National Transitional Council (NTC) was a transitional government established in the 2011 Libyan civil war. After rebel forces overthrew the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya of Muammar Gaddafi in August 2011, the NTC governed Libya for a further ...

in 2002 before being put to a referendum. Changes from the old constitution increased presidential terms to seven years and abolished the post of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. It established a

bicameral legislature Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single ...

and instituted several requirements in order to be able to stand for President. The government described the referendum as paving the way for elections and welcomed the results. However the opposition urged that voters

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...

the referendum as they said that the new constitution would give too much power to the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

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s said that the referendum, which took place without international observers, had seen irregularities.

Results

References

External links

Results by region
{{Republic of the Congo elections 2002 referendums Referendums in the Republic of the Congo 2002 in the Republic of the Congo Constitutional referendums in the Republic of the Congo