President Felix Tshisekedi has approved a law that sets out how constitutional changes can be put to a referendum in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a move critics say could lay the groundwork for him to seek a third term in power. The legislation was approved by parliament last month and signed on Monday, in a step announced on state television late on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Congo’s state news agency ACP said deputy presidential spokesperson Roger Kalenga read out parts of the text, identified as Law No. 26/045 of November 9, 2026, which sets the conditions for organising a referendum in the country.
The law runs to eight chapters covering how a referendum is initiated and called, campaign rules, the role of witnesses, observers and journalists, the conduct of the vote, legal disputes and penalties. Under the passages read on television, a referendum is an expression of the people’s sovereignty in which citizens answer yes or no to a specific text or question, participation is a civic duty for registered voters aged 18 and above, and the process can be started by the president, the government or citizens through a petition. The law sets out how a new constitution could be drafted and put to a referendum, as well as how existing constitutional provisions could be changed. The Spanish news agency EFE reported that the Constitutional Court approved the measure in July, a ruling that drew protests in Goma and Bukavu.
The constitutional obstacle is explicit. The current charter limits presidents to two five year terms and bars any revision touching the number or length of presidential terms, protections that apply to change by parliament. Tshisekedi, 63, has led the country since January 2019 and was re-elected in December 2023, so under the current text he must leave office when his second term ends in late 2028. A referendum on a wholly new constitution is the route the opposition fears would reset those limits. Tshisekedi has denied seeking a third term but said in May that he would accept one if the Congolese people wanted it, and that any change to the constitution would only be made after consulting the population in a referendum.
The politics around the law are already contested. Opposition parties have closed ranks against what they call a constitutional coup, staging demonstrations in June and September in Kinshasa and other cities, though the opposition platform known as C64 has struggled to bring large crowds onto the streets. Tshisekedi also said in May that elections due in late 2028 may not go ahead as scheduled if the conflict in eastern Congo continues and territories in North and South Kivu remain under rebel control. Large parts of the east remain gripped by that conflict, with the Rwanda backed M23 group holding Goma and Bukavu, the cities where the Constitutional Court ruling drew protests in July.
The law is enacted and in force as a framework. Nothing else has happened yet: no referendum has been called, no date or question has been announced, no draft constitution is on the table, and the term limits themselves have not changed. What would confirm the opposition’s reading is a referendum call or a draft text touching presidential terms; what would weaken it is a commitment to hold the 2028 election under the current constitution. For markets, the exposure runs through Congo’s position in copper and cobalt supply and through the mining contracts and fiscal terms a contested succession would put under review.