TITLE III. OF THE EXECUTIVE POWER
Article 32
The Executive Power is composed of the President of the Republic and of the Government.
The President of the Republic is the Head of the Executive.
The Prime Minister is the Head of Government.
Chapter 1. Of the President of the Republic
Article 33
The President of the Republic is the Head of State.
He incarnates and symbolizes the national unity.
He sees to the respect for the Constitution. He assures, through his arbitration, the regular functioning of the public powers as well as the continuity and the sustainability [pérennité] of the State.
He is the guarantor of the national independence, of the integrity of the territory, [and] of respect for the Agreements and Treaties.
He establishes the grand orientations of the policy of the Nation.
He appoints the Prime Minister, Head of Government and terminates his functions. On proposal of the Prime Minister, he appoints the other members of the Government and terminates their functions.
He is the Head of the Executive. As such, he convenes [réunit] and presides over the Council of Ministers. In it he establishes the agenda in advance and in it he registers the decisions [made]. He sees to the execution of the laws.
He promulgates the laws, [and] signs the ordinances and the decrees.
He is the Supreme Head of the Armies.
He is responsible for the national defense.
He presides over the Superior Council and Committee of National Defense.
He is the guarantor of the independence of the Judicial Power.
He presides over Superior Council of the Magistrature, the Consultative Commission of the Council of State and the Conference of Presidents and of Procurator General [Procureur Général] of the Court of Accounts. He sees to the execution of the decisions of justice.
He exercises the right of pardon.
He has authority over all the public and parastatal [parapublic] administrations of the State and sees to their neutrality.
He appoints to the civil and military functions, with the exception of those for which the law provides otherwise.
He negotiates, signs, ratifies and denounces the international Treaties and Agreements.
He accredits the ambassadors and the envoys to foreign Heads of State.
The foreign ambassadors and envoys are accredited to him.
He confers the honorific distinctions of the Republic.
Article 34
The function of President of the Republic is incompatible with the exercise of any other political function, of any other elective mandate, [and] of any lucrative activity.
During his mandate, the President of the Republic may not by himself or though a third party, purchase or take a lease on an asset belonging to the domain of the State and of the Territorial Collectivities, without previous authorization of the Plenary Assembly of the Court of Cassation within the conditions established by the law. He may not take part, by himself or through a third party, in public or private markets on behalf of the administrations or institutions arising from [the domain] of the State and of the local Collectivities or subject to their control.
In the case of violation of the provisions of this Article, the President of the Republic can be removed according to the procedure specified in Article 125 below.
Article 35
The President of the Republic is elected by universal direct suffrage and by secret majority ballot, in two (2) rounds.
The duration of the mandate of the President of the Republic is of five (5) years. The mandate is renewable one sole time.
In no case, may the President of the Republic exercise more than two (02) consecutive mandates or extend it for whatever motive that may be.
Article 36
Only men and women fulfilling the following conditions can be candidates to presidential election:
- to be of Central African nationality;
to be aged thirty-five (35) years at least [on] the day of the deposit of the dossier of the candidature; to have a property built on the national territory; to have resided in the national territory for at least one (1) year; to not have been the object of a sentence to an afflictive or defamatory penalty; enjoying their civil rights; enjoying good mental and physical health; to be of good morals.
The election of the new President takes place forty-five (45) days at least and ninety (90) days at most before the termination of mandate of the President in office [exercice].
Article 37
The results of the presidential election are proclaimed by the Constitutional Court fifteen (15) days at the latest after the provisional publication by the National Authority of Elections.
The investiture, by the Constitutional Court, of the President-elect takes place within a time period of forty-five (45) days at most after the Court has dealt with [any] electoral disputes.
In case of the death or of disability within that time period, the provisions of Article 47 below are applied.
Article 38
When he enters into his functions, standing, visibly, his left hand resting on the Constitution and the right hand raised, the President of the Republic takes the following [ci-aprs] oath, in Sango, then in French, before the Constitutional Court sitting in solemn audience:
“I …….., swear before God and before the Nation to observe the Constitution scrupulously, to guarantee the independence and the sustainability of the Republic, to safeguard the integrity of the territory, to preserve the peace, to consolidate the national unity, to assure the well-being of the Central African People, to fulfill conscientiously the duties of my office without any consideration of ethnic, regional, or religious order, of never exercising the powers conferred upon me by the Constitution for personal ends nor to revise the number and the duration of my mandate and in all [matters] only to be guided by the national interest and dignity of the Central African People”.
Article 39
Within the thirty (30) days which precede the taking of the oath, the newly elected President of the Republic makes a written declaration of his patrimony[,] deposited at the Office [greffe] of the Constitutional Court[,] which is rendered public within eight (8) working days.
Within the thirty (30) days which precede the cessation of his functions the President of the Republic renews the declaration of his patrimony within the conditions specified in the paragraph above.
A law determines the nature of the sanctions and the penalties applicable for the non-declaration or for the false declaration of the patrimony.
Article 40
The President of the Republic promulgates the laws within the fifteen (15) days which follow the definitive adoption of the text by the Parliament. This time period is reduced to five (5) days in case of urgency declared by the Parliament.
In default of promulgation within the required time periods, the law enters into force either automatically after declaration by the Constitutional Court or by referral to the Parliament.
He can[,] nevertheless, before the expiration of this time period, demand of the Parliament a new deliberation of the law or of certain of its provisions. This demand must be substantiated and the new deliberation may not be refused. It intervenes obligatorily in the course of the same session. The adoption, unchanged [en l’etat], of the text submitted to this new deliberation may only intervene with the qualified majority of two-thirds (2/3) of the members who compose each of the two Chambers of the Parliament.
The President of the Republic promulgates this law within the month which follows the close of the parliamentary session.
Article 41
When the circumstances require it, the President of the Republic can submit to referendum, after [the] opinion of the Council of Ministers, [of] that of the Bureau the National Assembly, [of] that of the Bureau of the Senate and [of] that of the President of the Constitutional Court, any bill of law, or before its promulgation, any law already voted by the Parliament.
The text adopted by the people as a result of the referendum is promulgated within a time period of fifteen (15) days.
Article 42
As an exception, for a limited time period and for the execution of a specific program, the President of Republic can demand of the Parliament the authorization to take, by ordinances, the measures which are normally of the domain of the law. The ordinances are adopted in the Council of Ministers after [the] opinion of the Council of State.
They enter into force on their publication but become lapsed if they have not been ratified at the expiration of the time period specified in the enabling law.
At the expiration of this time period, the ordinances, when they have been ratified, may only be modified by the law in those matters which are of the legislative domain.
Article 43
When the institutions of the Republic, the independence of the Nation, the integrity of the territory, the execution of international commitments or the normal functioning of the public powers are threatened in a grave and immediate manner, the President of the Republic, after [the] opinion of the Council of Ministers, of the President of the National Assembly, of the President of the Senate and of the President of the Constitutional Court, takes the measures required by the circumstances with the view to establish the public order, the integrity of the territory and the regular functioning of the public powers.
The Nation is informed by the message of the President of the Republic of his decision to implement or to discontinue the application of this Article.
When he exercises [dispose] exceptional powers, the President of the Republic may not revise or suspend all or part of the Constitution, or dissolve the National Assembly. During the exercise of exceptional powers, the Parliament meets of plain right. It is referred[,] for ratification, within the fifteen (15) working days [following] their promulgation, to [the matter] of the measures of legislative nature taken by the President of the Republic.
These measures will become lapsed if the bill of law of ratification is not deposited with the Bureau of the National Assembly within the said time period.
The Parliament can adopt them, amend them, or reject them in the vote on the law of ratification.
The application of exceptional powers by the President of the Republic must, in no case, compromise either the national sovereignty or the territorial integrity.
Article 44
The President of the Republic can, when the circumstances require it, after [the] opinion of the Council of Ministers, of the Bureau of the National Assembly, the Bureau of the Senate and of the President of the Constitutional Court, declare the state of siege or the state of urgency for a period of fifteen (15) days. This time period may only be extended by the National Assembly, convened in extraordinary session with or without [a] quorum.
Article 45
The President of the Republic communicates with the Parliament, either directly or by [a] message he has read. These communications do not give rise to any debate or vote.
Out of session, the National Assembly meets specially to this effect.
Article 46
The President of the Republic can, after consultation of the Council of Ministers, of the Bureau of the National Assembly, the Bureau of the Senate and of the President of the Constitutional Court, declare the dissolution of the National Assembly. The legislative elections then take place forty-five (45) days at least and ninety (90) days at most after the dissolution.
Each Chamber of the Parliament meets of plain right within the month which follows its election.
In the case of dissolution of the National Assembly, the President of the Republic may not legislate.
It may not proceed to more than one dissolution during the duration of a Presidential mandate.
Article 47
The vacancy of the Presidency of the Republic is only created [ouverte] by the death, the resignation, the removal, [or] the conviction of the President or by his definitive incapacity to exercise his functions in accordance with the duties of his office [charge].
Any case of definitive incapacity or of illness, which places the President of the Republic in the absolute impossibility of exercising his functions, must be confirmed [constaté] by a Special Committee presided over by the President of the Constitutional Court and including the President of the National Assembly, the President of the Senate and the Prime Minister, Head of Government.
The Special Committee, referred to [the matter] by the Government, decides with the absolute majority of its members, by decision taken after [the] separate and substantiated opinion of three doctors, designated by the National Council of the Order of Doctors, Dental Surgeons, and Pharmacists [Conseil Nationale de l’Ordre des Médecins, Chirurgiens-dentistes et Pharmaciens] and obligatorily including the personal physician of the President of the Republic.
In [the] case of death, a report [constat] must be established by the Special Committee specified [visé] in paragraph 2 of this Article, by decision taken after [the] separate and substantiated opinion of three doctors, designated by the National Council of the Order of Doctors, Dental Surgeons, and Pharmacists [Conseil Nationale de l’Ordre des Médecins, Chirurgiens-dentistes et Pharmaciens] and obligatorily including the personal physician of the President of the Republic.
In [the] case of conviction, the decision that is pronounced is transmitted by the President of the concerned jurisdiction to the President of the Constitutional Court[,] who informs the President of the National Assembly as well as the President of the Senate by letter and the Nation by message[,] of it.
In [the] case of resignation, the President of the Republic notifies his decision by letter to President of the Constitutional Court and informs the Nation by message.
The ballot for the election of the new President must intervene forty-five (45) days at least and ninety (90) days at most after the creation [ouverture] or the determination of the vacancy. The person exercising the functions of the President of the Republic provisionally cannot be a candidate at this election.
In [the] case of resignation, of dismissal, of definitive incapacity or of death, the President of the Republic is substituted by the President of the National Assembly.
In the hypothetical [case] where [the President of the National Assembly] will be himself in one of the above cases, the substitution is assured by the President of the Senate.
The substitute is required to organize, within forty-five (45) days at least and ninety (90) days at most, the election of the new President of the Republic.
During the period of the substitution, the provisions of Articles 33 to 46 above, are not applicable.
The interim President of the Republic may not modify, either the Constitution, or the composition of the Government.
He may not have recourse to the referendum.
Article 48
In case of temporary absence or incapacity of the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, Head of Government, assures the substitution.
In case of temporary absence or incapacity of the President of the Republic and of the Prime Minister, Head of Government, the President of the Republic establishes by decree the attributions of one of the Ministers charged to assure the substitution by virtue of an express delegation.
Article 49
With the exception of those concerning the domains reserved [to] the Head of State provided for in Articles 33, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 90, 91, 92 and 99, the acts of the President of the Republic are countersigned by the Prime Minister and, the case arising, by the Ministers given the charge of their execution.
The absence of the countersignature may result in the nullity of these acts.
Article 50
The law establishes the benefits granted to the President of the Republic and organizes the modalities of granting of a pension to the former Presidents of the Republic enjoying their civil rights.
Chapter 2. Of the Government
Article 51
The Government consists of the Prime Minister, Head of Government[,] and the Ministers.
Article 52
The Prime Minister, Head of Government, determines and conducts the policy of the Nation, of which the grand orientations are established by the President of the Republic, Head of State, in accordance with Article 33 paragraph 5 above.
The Prime Minister, Head of Government, directs [dispose] the Administration and appoints to specific civil offices [emplois] determined by the law.
He assures the execution of the laws.
He presides over the Councils of the Cabinet and [of] the Inter-Ministerial Committees [Comités Interministériels].
The regulatory acts of the Prime Minister, Head of Government, are countersigned by the Ministers given the charge their execution.
The absence of [the] countersignature may result in the nullity of these acts.
Article 53
The Prime Minister, Head of Government, is responsible before the President of the Republic and before the National Assembly.
The functions of the Prime Minister are terminated by the President of the Republic, following a motion of censure adopted with the majority of two-thirds (2/3) of the Deputies composing the National Assembly.
Article 54
After the appointment of the members of the Government, the Prime Minister, Head of Government, within a time period of sixty (60) days, presents [présente] himself to the National Assembly and presents [expose] his program and general policy.
On this occasion, the Prime Minister, Head of Government must demand a vote confidence of the National Assembly. The confidence is accorded or refused by the absolute majority of the Deputies.
In case the time period of sixty (60) days is not respected, Article 53 paragraph 2 above is applied.
Article 55
The Prime Minister, Head of Government, can, after deliberation by the Council of Ministers, engage the responsibility of the Government before the National Assembly on the vote of a text.
In this case, the text is considered as adopted, unless if a motion of censure deposited within the twenty-four (24) hours which follow, is voted within the conditions established in Article 53 above.
Article 56
The Prime Minister, Head of Government, can delegate certain of his powers to the Ministers.
The interim of the Prime Minister, Head of Government, is assured by a member of Government following the order of precedence.
Article 57
The functions of member of Government are not combinable [cumulables] with those of member of the Parliament, of member of the Economic and Social Council, of member of the National Council of Mediation, of member of the High Council of Communication, of member of the National Authority of Elections, of member of the High Authority responsible for Good Governance, of any function of professional representation, of any salaried employment and of any lucrative activity.
At the end of the governmental mission, the titular [members] may reintegrate their function during the mandate in course.
A law establishes the conditions under which the replacement of the titular [person] of such mandates, functions or employment is provided for.
Article 58
Before the entry into their functions, the Prime Minister and the members of the Government make, each in [regard] to what concerns him, a written declaration of [their] patrimony, deposited at the Office of the Constitutional Court, which renders it public within eight (8) working days.
Counting from the cessation of their functions, the Prime Minister and the members of the Government renew, each in [regard] to what concerns him, the declaration of their patrimony within the conditions specified in paragraph 1 above.
Article 59
Within their respective domains of competence, the Ministers are heard by the National Assembly or the Senate on the oral or written questions posed by the Deputies or the Senators.
Article 60
The Government examines, in the Council of Ministers, the bills of law before their deposit with the Bureau of each Chamber of the Parliament.
It is consulted for [its] opinion on the proposals of law.
The Government has the obligation to previously obtain the authorization of the National Assembly before the signature of any contract relative to natural resources as well as financial conventions. It is required to publish the said [ledit] contract within the eight (8) working days following its signature.
Article 61
The National Assembly can, by the vote of a motion of censure, engage [mettre en cause] the responsibility of the Government.
It obligatorily carries the title “Motion of Censure” and must be signed by one-third (1/3) of the members who compose the National Assembly.
The motion of censure signed, is remitted to the President of the National Assembly who notifies the Government of it without delay.
The vote [vote] on the motion of censure intervenes within the forty-eight (48) hours which follow its deposit.
The vote [scrutin] takes place by a secret ballot [bulletin] and with the majority of two-thirds (2/3) of the members who compose the National Assembly.
Article 62
When the National Assembly adopts a motion of censure or when it disapproves the program or a declaration of general policy of the Government, the Prime Minister must remit, without delay, to the President of the Republic, the resignation of his Government.
