Burkina Faso – Constitutional conundrum resolved

In Burkina Faso the constitutional problem that I posted about a couple of weeks ago seems to have been resolved.

A constitutional law was passed that would have extended the mandate of the National Assembly to no later than 3 June 2013. However, the Constitutional Council ruled that the law was unconstitutional. The problem was that a new law had to be passed before the current term of the legislature expired and there was scarcely any time to do so.

Anyway, deputies have now passed a new constitutional law. Whereas the previous one made specific reference to this legislature, the new amendment is general. The Council struck down the previous bill because it was specific. If this bill is sent to the Council, then presumably it will pass.

The text is available in France from Burkina24 here.

What still puzzles me is how this new law was passed. Previously, the crisis was caused by the fact that the bill was struck down almost immediately before the Assembly was due to end its five-year term. Therefore, there was no time to pass a new amendment. However, time seems to have been found and elections will take place later in the year.

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