Constitution of Zaire Young and Turner did, however, note that the "Mobutist state never approximated the leviathan vision embodied in the constitution". In particular, after Shaba I and Shaba II invasions (1977–78), Mobutu was forced to liberalize Zaire's political structure to allow contested elections and a degree of political dissent. The 1974 constitution remained in force, with some subsequent modifications, until the collapse of the Mobutu regime during the First Congo War. In 1994, the first of two Transitional Constitutions were adopted; the current Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was adopted in 2006. Constitution of Zaire The Constitution of Zaire
Constitution of Zaire president as President of Zaire itself with total power over government and judiciary (Articles 28 and 30). Mobutism was declared the state ideology (Article 46) and all Zaireans were automatically made members of the MPR (Article 8). Mobutu himself was exempted from the restrictions on power mentioned in the document and given the power to unilaterally modify the document at will. The state of Zaire's legal system as established by the constitution led Marcel Lihau, a jurist and former president of the Supreme Court of Justice who had fled the country, to remark that "Mobutu is the constitution in Zaire".