Following a ruling by the Constitutional Court, this time binding, that the referendum could not go ahead, the President released a statement on 21 June saying he would forgo the referendum, at least for the near future. But on 24 June he released a further statement, demanding the court reverse its ruling. This was immediately (the 25th) followed by a previously postponed one day general strike by seven labor confederations, and the abandonment of his government by the CDS-Rahama party of Mahamane Ousmane.