Month: June 2009
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Bullets not Ballots in Tegucigalpa
As readers of this space know, we have been following the evolving constitutional story in Honduras in recent months. The constitutional process erupted yesterday as the Honduran military pre-empted a scheduled referendum and ousted President Zelaya. The question on the ballot was whether Hondurans should replace the constitution.
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A Short Referendum in Honduras
Readers of this space will recall our previous commentary on the Honduran referendum scheduled for today. The question on the ballot was whether or not to rewrite the Honduran constitution. Critics had suggested that the primary motivation for the constitutional replacement was an extension of President Zelaya’s term in office.
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Zimbabwe begins constitution-making
Zimbabwe officially began the constitution-making process yesterday, a key part of the power-sharing agreement between long-time President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Look for this process
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Iraq’s Constitutional Review
Iraq’s Constitutional Review Committee (CRC), a body empowered by Art. 142 of the Constitution to do a one-off comprehensive reexamination of Iraq’s Constitution, is set to present its list of proposed amendments to the Iraq Parliament within the next couple of weeks.
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Niger: Constitutional Court stands firm
Niger’s Constitutional Court rejected President Tandja’s attempt to hold a referendum in August over a proposed rewrite of the constitution to bypass term limits. The Court held, inter alia, that the procedural rules for delcaring a referendum had not been followed.
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Term Limits at Issue in Niger, Philippines
The role of term-limit extensions as a motive for constitutional change has been a consistent theme on this blog. We earlier commented on the proposal by Niger President Tandja to have a referendum on a new constitution to allow him to run again for office after his second term expires this year.