fter a four-year interlude between two constitutions, with new political institu

tions established at the various levels of government, as well as new administra

tive divisions for the provinces throughout the country, a new constitution came
into effect in 2006 and politics in the Democratic Republic of the Congo finall
y settled into a stable presidentialdemocratic republic. The 2003 transitional c
onstitution[57] had established a parliament with a bicameral legislature, consi
sting of a Senate and a National Assembly.
The Senate had, among other things, the charge of drafting the new constitution
of the country. The executive branch was vested in a 60-member cabinet, headed b
y aPresident and four vice presidents. The President was also the Commander-in C
hief of the armed forces. The transitional constitution also established a relat
ively independent judiciary, headed by a Supreme Court with constitutional inter
pretation powers.[citation needed]
The 2006 constitution, also known as the Constitution of the Third Republic, cam
e into effect in February 2006. It had concurrent authority, however, with the t
ransitional constitution until the inauguration of the elected officials who eme
rged from the July 2006 elections. Under the new constitution, the legislature r
emained bicameral; the executive was concomitantly undertaken by a President and
the government, led by a Prime Minister, appointed from the party able to secur
e a majority in the National Assembly.
The government
not the President is responsible to the Parliament. The new consti
so granted new powers to the provincial governments, creating provincial parliam
ents which have oversight of the Governor and the head of the provincial governm
ent, whom they elect. The new constitution also saw the disappearance of the Sup
reme Court, which was divided into three new institutions. The constitutional in
terpretation prerogative of the Supreme Court is now held by the Constitutional
Court.[58]
Although located in the Central African UN subregion, the nation is also economi
cally and regionally affiliated with Southern Africa as a member of the Southern
African Development Community