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The President of the Republic
Title IV The President of the Republic
Article 67: Head of State
1. The President of the Republic shall be the Head of State. He incarnates the national unity and shall strive to respect the Constitution and the regular functioning of public institutions.
2. He shall assure the continuity of the State. He is the guarantor of national independence, territorial integrity, and the respect of international treaties and accords.
Article 68: Election, Term, Eligibility
1. The President of the Republic shall be elected for five years by direct universal suffrage. He shall be re-eligible one single time.
2. No one may be a candidate for the Office of President of the Republic if he:
- is not of native Congolese nationality;
- does not possess all his civil and political rights;
- cannot attest to profession experience of at least 15 years;
- is not in possession of good physical and mental heath; or
- does not evidence good moral character.
Article 69: Electoral Proceedings
1. The President of the Republic shall be elected by an absolute majority of the votes cast. If this is not obtained in the first round of balloting, it shall be followed, the second following Sunday, by a second round. Only the two candidates having received the largest number of votes in the first round shall be presented.
2. At the end of the second round, the candidate having won shall be elected President of the Republic.
3. Balloting shall be opened upon convocation of the Government.
4. The election of the new President shall take place at least twenty days and at most thirty days before the expiration of the mandate of the incumbent President.
5. If in the seven days before the date limit for the filing of presentations of candidature, one of the persons having, less than thirty days before this date, publicly announced his decision to be a candidate dies or finds himself incapacitated, the Constitutional Council may decide to recall the election.
6. If before the first round one of the candidates dies or finds himself incapacitated, the Constitutional Council shall pronounce the recall of the election.
7. In the case of death or incapacitation of one of the two most favored candidates in the first round, the Constitutional Council shall declare that a new electoral operation will follow; the same shall occur in the case of death or incapacitation of one of the two candidates remaining for presentation in a second round.
8. In all cases, the Constitutional Council shall be seated in conditions fixed in Article 143 or in those determined for the presentation of a candidate by the law prescribed in Article 68.
9. The Constitutional Council may propagate the time periods prescribed in Paragraph (4) and in Article 71 as long as the balloting shall take place no more than ninety days after the date of the decision of the Constitutional Council. If the application of the provisions of the present paragraph shall have the effect of recalling the election of the present President, he shall remain in office until the proclamation of his successor.
Article 70: Vacancy, Incapacity, Temporary Replacement
In the case of vacancy of the Presidency of the Republic for whatever reason, or incapacity declared by the Constitutional Council convened by the Government and deciding by an absolute majority of its members, the functions of the President of the Republic, with the exception of those relative to referendum and to the dissolution of the National Assembly, shall be provisionally exercised by the President of the Senate.
If he is himself incapacitated for the exercise of these functions, by the President of the National Assembly; if he is himself incapacitated for the exercise of these functions by the Prime Minister.
Article 71: New Elections
1. In the case of vacancy or when the incapacity is definitively declared by the Constitutional Council, the balloting for the election of the new President of the Republic shall take place, except in the case of force majesty declared by the Constitutional Council, at least 45 days and at most 90 days after the opening of the vacancy or the declaration of the definitive character of the incapacity.
2. In the interim, the Prime Minister shall not call into question the responsibility of the Government before the National Assembly nor may the National Assembly make use of the motion to censure.
3. The President of the Senate assuring the functions of the President of the Republic shall neither dismiss the Prime Minister and his Government nor proceed to amend the Constitution.
Article 72: Oath
1. When he enters office, the President of the Republic shall take the following oath: "Before the Nation and the Congolese People, the only possessors of sovereignty, I ... , President of the Republic, solemnly swear:
- to respect and defend the Constitution and the Republican form of the State;
- to loyally fulfill the high functions that the Nation has confided in me;
- to guarantee the respect of the fundamental laws of the human person and the public liberties;
- to protect and respect the public good including the natural resources and riches;
- to promote peace;
- to preserve the National Unity and the territorial integrity, the national sovereignty and independence."
2. The oath shall be received by the President of the Constitutional Council who performs the act before the Parliament, the Constitutional Council, and the Supreme Court.
Article 73: Incompatibilities
The functions of President of the Republic shall be incompatible with the exercise of any other elective mandate, any public, civil, or military employment, and any professional activity. The mandate of the President of the Republic shall be equally incompatible with any responsibility at the center of a party or a political association.
Article 74: Commercial Restrictions, Declaration, Remuneration
1. During their term, the President of the Republic and the members of the Government shall not by themselves, nor through intermediary, purchase anything that belongs to the domain of the State.
2. They shall be required, when they enter office and when they leave, to make upon their honor a written declaration of all their goods and possessions and to address it to the Office of the Comptroller.
3. They shall not take part in public sales or purchases and adjudications for the administrations or institutions relevant to the State or submitted to their control.
4. They shall receive special treatment of which the amount shall be determined by law. They shall occupy an official residence.
Article 75: Prime Minister, Ministers
1. The President of the Republic shall name the Prime Minister approved by a parliamentary majority of the National Assembly. He shall end the Prime Minister's functions when the Prime Minister presents the resignation of the Government.
2. He shall name the other members of the Government at the suggestion of the Prime Minister. He shall end their terms of office with the advice of the Prime Minister.
Article 76: President and Government
The President of the Republic shall preside over the Council of Ministers.
Article 77: Signing of Decrees, Nomination of Officers
The President of the Republic shall sign the decrees taken in the Council of Ministers. He shall name high political and military officer of the State in the Council of Ministers.
Article 78: Promulgation, Reconsideration
1. The President of the Republic shall promulgate laws within the twenty days which follow the transmission to the Government of the definitively adopted law.
2. At any time, the President of the Republic may, before the expiration of this time period, demand of the Parliament a new deliberation of the law or of certain of its articles. This new deliberation shall not be refused.
3. Following this deliberation, the President of the Republic shall be obligated to promulgate the amended law or not.
Article 79: Referendum
1. The President of the Republic can, upon the initiative of the Government during its sessions or upon the initiative of the National Assembly published in the Official Journal, submit to referendum any bill or proposition of law effecting areas susceptible to have great consequences upon the functioning of institutions or on society.
2. When the referendum has ended in the adoption of the bill or proposition, the President of the Republic shall promulgate it within the time limit prescribed in the previous article.
Article 80: Dissolution of Parliament
When the equilibrium of the public institutions is interrupted notably in the case of sharp and persistent crisis between the executive power and the Parliament, or if the National Assembly overturns the Government two times in the time of one year, the President of the Republic can, after consultation of the Prime Minister and the President of the National Assembly, pronounce the dissolution of the National Assembly.
Article 81: New Elections
After the dissolution of the National Assembly, general elections shall take place within a period of forty five days.
Article 82: First Session
1. The National Assembly shall meet by right the second Tuesday following its election. If this meeting takes place outside of the periods prescribed for ordinary sessions, an extraordinary session shall open by right for a duration of fifteen days.
2. It shall not be followed by a new dissolution in the year that follows these elections.
Article 83: Ambassadors
The President of the Republic shall accredit Ambassadors and Special Envoys to Foreign Powers, Foreign Ambassadors, and Special Envoys shall be accredited to him.
Article 84: Commander-in-Chief
The President of the Republic is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. He shall preside at the High Councils and Committees of National Defense.
Article 85: Right of Pardon
The President of the Republic exercises the right of pardon.
Article 86: Messages to Parliament
1. The President of the Republic shall communicate with the Parliament by messages which he shall have read and which shall not be debated.
2. Out of session, the Parliament shall specially convene for this purpose.
Article 87: Countersignatures
The Acts of the President of the Republic other than those relative to the nomination of the Prime Minister, referendum message, and submission of laws to the Constitutional Council shall be countersigned by the Prime Minister and, the case arising, by the Ministers charged with their execution.
Article 88: Responsibility
The President of the Republic and the members of the Government shall be responsible for acts accomplished in the exercise of their functions in conformity with the provisions of Title VIII.
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