DR Congo's constitutional court backs referendum law, opening a path to President Tshisekedi's third term

Summary

The Democratic Republic of Congo's constitutional court approved a referendum law on July 28, a ruling critics say clears the legal path for President Felix Tshisekedi to seek a third term after his second and currently final mandate ends in late 2028. DR Congo's constitution as written bars revision of the number and length of presidential terms. The referendum law, if enacted, would allow a popular vote to amend those limits. Tshisekedi came to power in 2019 after a disputed election and was re-elected in 2023. The opposition condemned the ruling as unconstitutional and an attack on democratic safeguards. The court's decision comes as Drc faces the M23 insurgency in the east backed by Rwanda, a growing 刚果民主共和国埃博拉疫情确诊超3,200例、死亡1,405人，10天新增1,000例 outbreak, and deep fiscal pressure.

The split

West African and pan-African outlets framed the ruling primarily as a democratic backslide, stressing the constitutional prohibition on term-limit revision. Uganda's New Vision emphasized the factual timeline, leaving the political judgment implicit. The ruling appears to have received limited pickup outside sub-Saharan Africa; no Western government response appeared in the feed docs.

By the numbers

• 2028, year Tshisekedi's second and currently final term ends
• 2019, year Tshisekedi first came to power, after a disputed election
• 2, presidential terms the DRC constitution limits presidents to
• 63, Tshisekedi's age at the time of the ruling

Why it matters

Term-limit erosion has become a common governance pattern across central and west Africa over the past decade, typically pursued through constitutional amendments or referendum laws approved by courts aligned with the executive. If DRC follows that path, it would remove the clearest institutional constraint on Tshisekedi's hold on power at a moment when the country's security and health crises make stable leadership transitions more important, not less.

What to watch

• Whether opposition parties mount a legal challenge to the referendum law and which courts hear it
• Whether the African Union or the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights comment on the ruling's compatibility with the African Charter on Democracy
• Whether Tshisekedi publicly endorses running for a third term or distances himself from the referendum process