President of the Central African Republic Faustin-Archange Touadéra has submitted a draft new constitution for a referendum scheduled to take place at the end of July.
President Touadéra presented the 67-page document to the national leadership of the Referendum Directorate in the capital Bangui on Tuesday.
The national referendum campaign directorate is the body responsible for publishing the new constitution.
"The reforms listed in this draft will break the outdated trend of mistrust towards the Central African Republic and open the doors of our country wider to national and international investors", said President Touadéra.
Rapid emergence
President Faustin-Archange Touadéra is serving his final term in office. But the new text, if approved during the referendum on July 30, will allow him to run for a third term in office.
The draft proposes a change to presidential term limit with the current two five-year-term arrangement to be replaced with a seven-year tenure without restrictions. Changes are also proposed for the country's Constitutional Court.
The submission of the new draft constitution took place in the presence of government ministers and foreign diplomats.
The Central African Republic's leader said if the new constitution is adopted, it would encourage "a more rapid emergence" of the country.
New stage
"Today marks the start of a new stage in the life of the CAR. Central Africans have decided to give themselves a constitution that meets their needs," he added.
"We have always had constitutions imposed on us by historical contingencies. In other words, they come from outside, they are imposed on us, including the regimes,'' Aristide Reboas, Minister of Youth and Sport of the Central African Republic said.
In the event of a 'Yes' vote, the new constitution will be the ninth in the country's history and will replace the one being used since 2016. The referendum campaign is expected to begin on July 15 and end on July 28.
