Prime Minister

Augustin Matata
Ponyo
Parliament
The legislature consists of parliament including the
upper house (the Senate) and the lower house called
The President
The DR Congo President be elected by the maority
and may remain president for up to two ! year
terms" The president ser#es as $ead of State and
whose duties include%
&n charge of armed forces as commander in
chief"
Appoints o'cers( ministers( and
ambassadors
)egotiates treaties
*nsures compliance with the constitution
Senate
The Senate is comprised of +,- indi#iduals who
are elected indirectly and ser#e for a total of .#e
years per election" The Senate has a legislati#e
role in the go#ernment and originally had the tas/
of drafting the new constitution which was later
adopted"
Prime Minister
The Prime Minister is pic/ed from the party or
political group that is in charge of the Assembly" $e
is a head of the go#ernment and is appointed by
The Court System
Consisting of nine members who can be
reappointed for e#ery nine year term" The
Constitutional Court monitors the
constitutionality of laws( treaties( and other
international agreements" They hear claims
related to elections because they are the
ones that gi#e out the election results"
The Supreme Court is the highest
constitutional authority in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo" The court ta/es on
the cases that pose a 0uestion to a law
that cannot be handled in lower courts"
The Supreme Court is comprised of a
Chief of 1ustice( a 2ice President( and .#e
Chamber Presidents"
)ational
Assembly
The )ational Assembly has 3,,
members who ser#e .#e year terms
though they can ser#e as many terms
as they are elected" The )ational
assembly is the lower house of
parliament and can remo#e the
president if need be" The )ational
Assembly can scrutini4e bills and
5irst democratically elected
President was 1oseph 6abila in
7,,8
9ac/ground
After many years as a colony of 9elgium( the Congo was granted
independence in +:8," The .rst constitution was written in +:8;" Multiple
heads of state came to power until +::7" That year had a new constitution
that instituted multi<party elections" &n +::! a brief ci#il war bro/e out and
the 5undamental Act suspended the constitution( beginning a period of ethnic
and political unrest" Congo adopted a transitional constitution in 7,,7( which
included a 9ill of Rights( fundamental principles of the Republic( de.nes the
rights and duties of citi4ens( and the operating rules of the state" &n 7,,3( a
formal constitution was adopted" The president shares powers with the prime
minister and a bicameral legislature" &n 7,+,( the Congo celebrated 3, years
of &ndependence e#en though there are still issues to be resol#ed"
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is composed of +,
pro#inces"
The =o#ernment% The Democratic Republic of
the Congo