Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville) constitutional referendum, 1964

A constitutional referendum was held in Congo- Leopoldville between 25 June and 10 July 1964.

The new constitution, known as the " Constitution of Luluaburg ", changed the system of government of the country, the country's name and the number of provinces. It was adopted by 91 % of voters.

New Constitution

After the Congo crisis, the negotiations between the pro-Western politicians and socialist pan-African politicians resulted in the drafting of a new constitution. The new document created a presidential system within the government - instead of the previous semi-presidential system, in which both the Prime Minister and the President had certain decision-making powers. It also made ​​the country more federal and increased the number of provinces from six to 21

The country was renamed the " Democratic Republic of Congo ", while it was since its independence in 1960, " Republic of Congo " - a name which it shared with its neighboring state Republic of the Congo.

Results

Aftermath

When the Constitution came into force, the Parliament, which was elected during the elections in the Belgian Congo in 1960, was automatically dissolved, and President Joseph Kasavubu appointed a transitional government, whose task was the organization of the elections within nine months.

In June 1964, appointed Moise Tshombe Kasavubu, who led the state of Katanga, the transitional prime minister. After the Tshombe government announced that the elections on March 30, 1965 would take place, indicated by some politicians that they can not be held until peace negotiations with the remaining rebel factions would be launched. However, the elections were held in Congo- Kinshasa in 1965 as scheduled between 18 March and 30 April 1965.