TITLE II. OF THE STATE AND OF SOVEREIGNTY
Article 24
The form of the State is the Republic.
The Central African State has for its name: République Centrafricaine [Central African Republic].
The Central African Republic is a State of law, unitary, sovereign, indivisible, secular and democratic. It recognizes and protects the traditional values in accordance with the law and the Customary Authorities.
Its capital is Bangui. It can only be transferred by virtue of a law, when the superior interest of the Nation requires it.
Its national language is Sango.
Its official languages are Sango and French.
Its emblem is the flag of five (5) colors having four (4) horizontal bands of equal width of blue, white, green and yellow color, crossed perpendicularly in their middle [milieu], by a band of equal width of red color and struck in the superior left quadrant by a star of five (5) points of yellow color.
Its motto is: Unité – Dignité – Travail [Unity – Dignity – Work].
Its anthem is La Renaissance.
Its National Day is established as 1st December, the date of the proclamation of the Republic.
Its currency is defined by the law.
The Seal of the State and the Coat-of-Arms of the Republic are defined by the law.
Article 25
The principles of the Republic are:
- government of the People, by the People and for the People;
the separation of the State and of Religion; national unity; social peace; social justice; national solidarity; good governance; social and economic development.
Article 26
National sovereignty belongs to the people who exercise it by way [voie] of referendum or by the intermediary of their representatives.
No part [fraction] of the people nor any individual may arrogate its exercise, or alienate it.
The eligible institutions, responsible for [chargées de] directing the State, have their power from the people by way of [par voie d’] elections, by direct or indirect universal suffrage
Article 27
The Forces of Defense and of Security are at the service of the Nation.
They are composed exclusively of Central African citizens.
They are professional, multi-ethnic, republican and non-partisan.
The Forces of Defense have as their mission to guarantee the integrity of the territory, as well as the security of the populations, against any foreign, or internal aggression or menace; within respect for the constitutional provisions and the Laws.
The National Forces of Security have as their mission to defend the authority of the law and to guarantee the security of the persons and of the assets.
The Statutes [Statuts] of the Forces of Defense and of Security are incompatible with political status [statut].
The organic laws determine the respective organization and the functioning of the Forces of Defense and of Security
Article 28
The usurpation of sovereignty by coup d’état, rebellion, mutiny or any other non-democratic process [procédé] constitutes an imprescriptible crime against the Central African People. Any person or any third estate [Etat tiers] performing such acts will have declared war on the Central African People.
Any physical or juridical person that organizes actions of support, diffuses or have diffuse declarations to support a coup d’état, a rebellion or an attempted to take the power by mutiny or by any other means, is considered as co-author.
The authors, co-authors and accomplices of the acts referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 are interdicted from all public functions in the Institutions of the State.
Article 29
In the case of a coup d’état, of aggression by a third State or by mercenaries, the authorities enabled by the Constitution have the right and the duty of recourse to all means to reestablish constitutional legitimacy, including the recourse to the Agreements of military cooperation or defense [cooperation] in force.
In these circumstances, every citizen or group of citizens has the right and the duty to organize themselves in a peaceful manner, to defeat [faire échec] the illegitimate authority.
Article 30
Central Africans of the two (2) sexes, aged eighteen (18) years of age and enjoying their civil rights, are electors within the conditions determined by the law.
The vote is a civic duty.
Suffrage may be direct or indirect within the conditions specified by the Constitution. It is always universal, equal and secret.
Article 31
The political parties or groups concur in the expression of suffrage, [and] to the animation of the political, economic and social life.
They freely form and exercise their activities. They are required to promote and to respect the principles of democracy, of unity and of national sovereignty, of the Rights of Man, of the secularity and the republican form of the State, in accordance with the laws and regulations in force.
It is prohibited to them to identify themselves with a race, an ethnicity, a gender, a religion, a sect, a language, a region or an armed group.
The political parties must respect the principles of representation of gender and of regions specified by the law.
A law determines the conditions of their formation, of their functioning, of their funding [financement] of their control and of their dissolution.
