TITLE III. OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC AND OF THE GOVERNMENT
Article 34
The President of the Republic is the Head of State. He embodies the national unity. He sees to the respect of the Constitution. He assures the continuity of the State. He is the guarantor of the national independence, of the territorial integrity, of the respect of international commitments.
Article 35
The President of the Republic is elected for five years by universal direct suffrage. He is only reeligible one time. The candidate to the presidential election must be forty years of age at least and sixty-five years at most. He must be Ivorian by birth, born of a father and of a mother themselves Ivorian by birth. He must never have renounced the Ivorian nationality. He must never have had another nationality. He must have resided in Cote d’Ivoire continuously during the five years preceding the date of the elections and have totaled ten years of effective presence. The obligation of residence indicated in this article is not applicable to the members of diplomatic and consular representations and to the persons designated by the State to occupy a post or accomplish a mission abroad, to international functionaries and to political exiles. The candidate to the Presidency of the Republic must present a complete statement of his physical and mental well-being duly determined by a college of three physicians appointed by the Constitutional Council from a list proposed by the Council of the Order of Physicians. These three physicians must take an oath before the Constitutional Council. He must be of good morals and of grand probity. He must declare his assets and substantiate the origin of them.
Article 36
The election of the President of the Republic is acquired by an absolute majority of the suffrage expressed. If this is not obtained, it proceeds to a second round, fifteen days after the proclamation of the results of the first round. Only the two candidates having received the greatest number of votes in the first round can present themselves. The convocation of the electors is made by decree in the Council of Ministers. The first round of the ballot takes place in the course of the month of October of the fifth year of the mandate of the President of the Republic.
Article 37
If in the seven days preceding the deadline of the deposit of presentation of the candidatures, one of the persons having, less than thirty days before that date, announced publicly his decision to be a candidate, the Constitutional Council can decide on the postponement of the election. If before the first round, one of the candidates dies or finds himself incapacitated, the Constitutional Council declares the postponement of the election. In the case of death or of incapacity of one of the two candidates coming in ahead as a result of the first round, the Constitutional Council decides on the complete repetition of the electoral operations.
Article 38
In case of events or of grave circumstances, notably of affect to the integrity of the territory, or of natural catastrophes rendering impossible the normal holding of the elections or the proclamation of the results, the President of the Commission charged with the elections immediately seizes the Constitutional Council to the end of declaring on this situation. The Constitutional Council decides within twenty-four hours, to stop or to continue the electoral operations or of suspending the proclamation of the results. The President of the Republic informs the Nation by a message. He remains in his functions. In the case where the Constitutional Council orders the stoppage of the electoral operations or decides on the suspension of the proclamation of the results, the Commission charged with the elections establishes and communicates daily with it on the state of the evolution of the situation. When the Constitutional Council establishes the cessation of these events or of these grave circumstances, it establishes a new time period which cannot exceed thirty days for the proclamation of the results and ninety days for the holding of the elections.
Article 39
The powers of the President of the Republic in office expire at the date of the taking of office of the President-elect, which occurs at the taking of the oath. Within forty-eight hours of the definitive proclamation of the results, the President of the Republic-elect takes the oath before the Constitutional Council meeting in solemn audience. The wording of the oath is:
“Before the sovereign people of Cote d’Ivoire, I solemnly swear and on my honor to respect and faithfully defend the Constitution, to protect the Rights and Freedoms of the citizens, to conscientiously fulfill the duties entrusted to me in the superior interest of the Nation. May the people withdraw their confidence in me and may I be submitted to the rigor of the laws, if I betray my oath”.
Article 40
In case of vacancy of the Presidency of the Republic due to death, resignation, or absolute incapacity, the interim of the President of the Republic is assured by the President of the National Assembly, for a period of forty-five days to ninety days in the course of which it proceeds to the election of the new President of the Republic.
The absolute incapacity is declared without delay by the Constitutional Council seized to this end by a request of the Government, approved by the majority of its members. The provisions of the first and 5th sentences of Article 38 are applied in the case of an interim. The President of the National Assembly, assuring the interim of the President of the Republic, cannot make use of Articles 41 paragraphs 2 and 4, 43, and 124 of the Constitution. In the case of death, of resignation, or of absolute incapacity of the President of the National Assembly, the vacancy of the Presidency of the Republic then occurring, the interim of the President of the Republic is assured, in the same conditions, by the First Vice President of the National Assembly.
Article 41
The President is the exclusive holder of the executive power. He appoints the Prime Minister, the Head of Government, who is responsible to him. He terminates his functions. The Prime Minister animates and coordinates the governmental action. On the proposal of the Prime Minister, the President of the Republic appoints the other members of the Government and determines their attributions. He terminates their functions under the same conditions.
Article 42
The President of the Republic has the initiative of laws concurrently with the members of the National Assembly. He assures the promulgation of the laws within the fifteen days which follow the transmittal which is made of them to him by the President of the National Assembly. This time period is reduced to five days in case of urgency. A law not promulgated by the President of the Republic until the expiration of the time period specified in this Article is declared effective by the Constitutional Council seized by the President of the National Assembly, if it conforms to the Constitution. The President of the Republic can, before the expiration of this time period, demand of the National Assembly a second deliberation of the law or of certain of its articles. This second deliberation cannot be refused. He can equally, within the same time period, demand and obtain of right that this deliberation can only take place at the time of the ordinary session following the session during which the text was adopted in its first reading. The vote for this second deliberation is acquired by the majority of two-thirds of the members present of the National Assembly.
Article 43
The President of the Republic, after consultation with the Bureau of the National Assembly, can submit to referendum any text or any question which appears to him should require the direct consultation of the people. When the referendum has concluded with the adoption of the text, the President of the Republic promulgates it within the time period specified in the preceding article.
Article 44
The President of the Republic assures the execution of the laws and the decisions of justice. He makes the regulations applicable on the whole of the territory of the Republic.
Article 45
The President of the Republic accredits the ambassadors and the envoys extraordinary to foreign powers; the ambassadors and the envoys extraordinary of foreign powers are accredited to him.
Article 46
The President of the Republic is the Head of the Administration. He appoints the civil and military officers.
Article 47
The President of the Republic is the Supreme Head of the Armies. He presides over the Superior Council of Defense.
Article 48
Whenever the Institutions of the Republic, the independence of the Nation, the integrity of its territory or the execution of its international commitments are threatened in a grave and immediate manner, and that the regular functioning of the constitutional public powers is interrupted, the President of the Republic takes the exceptional measures required by those circumstances after the obligatory consultation of the President of the National Assembly and of that of the Constitutional Council. He informs the Nation by a message. The National Assembly meets of right.
Article 49
The President of the Republic has the right of pardon.
Article 50
The President of the Republic determines and conducts the policy of the Nation.
Article 51
The President of the Republic presides over the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers deliberates obligatorily:
- on the decisions determining the general policy of the State;
on the bills of law, of the ordinances and of the regulatory decrees; on the nominations to the superior offices of the State, the listing of which is established by the law.
Article 52
The bills of law, of ordinance and of regulatory decree can be submitted to the Constitutional Council for advice, before being examined in the Council of Ministers.
Article 53
The President of the Republic can, by decree, delegate certain of his powers to the members of the Government. The Prime Minister substitutes the President of the Republic when he is absent from the national territory. In this case, the President of the Republic can, by decree, delegate to him the presidency of the Council of Ministers, on a precise agenda. The President of the Republic can delegate, by decree, certain of his powers to the Prime Minister or to a member of the Government who assures the interim of this. This delegation of powers must be limited in its time and concern a precise matter or object.
Article 54
The functions of the President of the Republic are incompatible with the exercise of any parliamentary mandate, any public employment, of any professional activity and of any directive function of a Political Party.
Article 55
When he enters into his functions and at the end of them, the President of the Republic is held to produce an authentic declaration of his patrimony before the Court of Accounts. During the exercise of his functions, the President of the Republic can neither, by himself, nor through an intermediate person, acquire or rent anything which belongs to the domain of the State and of the Public Collectivities, without the previous authorization of the Court of Accounts within the conditions established by the law. The President of the Republic cannot solicit for the transactions of the State and of the Public Collectivities.
Article 56
The functions of a member of the Government are incompatible with the exercise of any public office and of any professional activity. A parliamentarian appointed as a member of the Government cannot sit in the National Assembly, for the duration of his ministerial functions. The provisions of sentences 2 and 3 of the preceding article are applicable to the members of the Government during the term of their functions.
The President of the Republic communicates with the National Assembly, either directly or by the messages that he has read by the President of the National Assembly. These communications do not give rise to any debate.
