Referendum law: “As long as the law has not been promulgated, all possibilities remain open,” argues Paul-Gaspard Ngondankoy

Deputy Paul-Gaspard Ngondankoy defended the new version of his referendum bill, adopted by the National Assembly after the Constitutional Court ruled it constitutional subject to thirteen reservations. He said Parliament had only incorporated those reservations and that the president was entitled under Article 137 of the Constitution to request a fresh deliberation. Ngondankoy argued that Parliament can still amend or readopt the bill until it is promulgated, since promulgation is required for the law to take effect. He added that the Court’s declaration of constitutionality is only a presumption and does not prevent a later legal challenge.