On 26 May, within hours of the Constitutional Court's statement, official media read out a statement that Tandja had dissolved the National Assembly. Under the 1999 Constitution he is allowed to do this once every two years, but he must call parliamentary elections within three months. This would mean the government of Niger would carry out scheduled parliamentary elections in September, two months early, and a referendum on a new constitution before presidential elections which could have been held no later than December, assuming the 1999 constitution was in effect.