Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville) constitutional referendum, 1964

Democratic Republic of the Congo
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Constitution Human rights
Government President (list) Joseph Kabila Government Prime Minister (list) Augustin Matata Ponyo
Parliament Senate National Assembly
Judiciary Constitutional Court Court of Cassation
Administrative divisions Provinces (governors) Districts Territories Chiefdoms and sectors
Elections Recent elections General: 2006 2011 Senate: 2007 2014 Gubernatorial: 2009 2014 Political parties
Foreign relations
United Nations Mission
Other countries Atlas Politics portal

A constitutional referendum was held in the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville) between 25 June and 10 July 1964. The new constitution, known as the "Constitution de Luluabourg", changed the country's system of government, its name, and the number of provinces. It was approved by 91% of voters.

Background

Following the Congo Crisis, negotiations between politicians resulted in the drafting of a new constitution. The new document created a presidential system of government in place of the previous semi-presidential system, where both the Prime Minister and President had certain powers. It also made the country more federalist, and increased the number of provinces from six to 21.^[1]

The country was renamed the "Democratic Republic of Congo" (having been officially the "Republic of Congo" since independence in 1960, a name shared by its neighbour)

Results

Aftermath

When the constitution came into effect, the parliament elected in 1960 was automatically dissolved, and the President, Joseph Kasa-Vubu, appointed a transitional government, whose role was to organise elections within nine months.

In June 1964 Kasavubu appointed Moise Tshombe, who had led the Katanga breakaway, as the interim Prime Minister. After Tshombe's government announced that elections would be held by 30 March 1965, some politicians claimed they could not be held until peace talks with the remaining rebel factions had been held. However, the elections went ahead as planned between 18 March and 30 April.^[1]

References

Elections and referendums in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Presidential elections 1970 1977 1984 2006 2011 2016 Parliamentary elections 1960 1965 1970 1975 1977 1982 1987 2006 2011 2016 Senatorial elections 2007 2014 Gubernatorial elections 2007 2009 2014 Local elections 1957 1959 Referendums 1964 1967 1973 2005