{"id":38170,"date":"2018-07-28T05:14:27","date_gmt":"2018-07-28T03:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/38170-clinging-to-power-in-africa-via-constitutional-reforms.html"},"modified":"2018-07-28T05:14:27","modified_gmt":"2018-07-28T03:14:27","slug":"clinging-to-power-in-africa-via-constitutional-reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/38170-clinging-to-power-in-africa-via-constitutional-reforms.html","title":{"rendered":"Clinging to power in Africa via constitutional reforms"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"text fontsize_0 jq_Content jq_langdir\">\n<p>Monday's controversial referendum in the Comoros could allow its president, Azali Assoumani, to seek re-election and retain power beyond 2021, when his currently non-renewable term would otherwise end.<\/p>\n<p>Several other African leaders have also sought to hang on to power through changes to the constitution.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some examples.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>- Success -<\/h2>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>- In Rwanda, voters in 2015 overwhelmingly backed a referendum that removed term limits from the constitution, allowing President Paul Kagame -- in power since 1994 -- to potentially rule until 2034.<\/p>\n<p>- The same year the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) voted by a landslide on constitutional changes that would allow veteran ruler Denis Sassou Nguesso to run for a third term. He was re-elected in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>- In Zimbabwe a new constitution adopted in 2013 let Robert Mugabe stand in another election, which he won. He was forced to step down in 2017, after 37 years in power.<\/p>\n<p>- Chad's Idriss Deby Itno has been in power since 1990 thanks to a constitutional revision in 2005 that was adopted after a disputed referendum.<\/p>\n<p>- In Uganda, also in 2005, a constitutional reform scrapped limits on presidential terms. Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986, was re-elected to a fifth term in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>- In Togo in 2002 a constitutional amendment allowing the president to seek reelection without limit paved the way for Gnassingbe Eyadema, in power since 1967, to win another term.<\/p>\n<p>When he died in 2005, his son Faure Gnassingbe took over and has since won three contested elections. The opposition is seeking a return to a two-term limit.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>- Crisis -<\/h2>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>- Burundi was plunged into a bloody political crisis after Pierre Nkurunziza won a highly controversial third term in 2015, which the opposition said was unconstitutional.<\/p>\n<p>In May 2018 Burundians voted overwhelmingly in a referendum in favour of constitutional changes that included extending presidential terms, potentially allowing Nkurunziza to stay in office until 2034.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But a month later Nkurunziza announced he would step down in 2020.<\/p>\n<p>- The Democratic Republic of Congo's President Joseph Kabila was obliged -- but refused -- to step down at the end of 2016 after he reached his two-term constitutional limit.<\/p>\n<p>The Constitutional Court ruled he could remain in office until his successor was elected.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After much delay, sparking deadly protests, a vote is scheduled for December 23, 2018.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>- Foiled -\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>- In Burkina Faso, the announcement in 2014 that long-serving president Blaise Compaore sought to extend his rule beyond 30 years brought hundreds of thousands of protesters onto the streets.\u00a0Compaore was forced to stand down.<\/p>\n<p>- In Malawi, the parliament in 2002 blocked Bakili Muluzi from seeking a third mandate in 2004.<\/p>\n<p>- Zambia's then president, Frederick Chiluba, tried in vain to change the constitution in 2001 in order to get a third term, but was forced to bow to popular pressure.<\/p>\n<p>acm-eab\/br\/bgs\/ri\/rma<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Monday's controversial referendum in the Comoros could allow its president, Azali Assoumani, to seek re-election and retain power beyond 2021, when his currently non-renewable term would otherwise end. Several other African leaders have also sought to hang on to power through changes to the constitution. Here are some examples. \u00a0 - Success - \u00a0 - [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[2075],"class_list":["post-38170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed","ji_location-africa"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.3.1 (Yoast SEO v25.3.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Clinging to power in Africa via constitutional reforms - JusticeInfo.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/38170-clinging-to-power-in-africa-via-constitutional-reforms.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Clinging to power in Africa via constitutional reforms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Monday&#039;s controversial referendum in the Comoros could allow its president, Azali Assoumani, to seek re-election and retain power beyond 2021, when his currently non-renewable term would otherwise end. 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