Today's local press mainly focuses on the promulgation of the new constitution by President Joseph Kabila.

The new constitution was indeed promulgated last Saturday 18 December 2005. As a result, the nation's "flag as well as Army Force and National Police banners have been changed," reports Le Palmarès. With the new constitution, DRC "has passed an important milestone in its move towards the normalisation and settlement of the long outstanding issue of the leaders' legitimacy," says L'Observateur, echoing President Joseph Kabila. It is now obvious that the end of the current transition "with its trail of problems and contradictions is effectively getting nearer and the Transition may definitely end on 30 June 2006...One may now begin to refer to it in the past," highlights L'Observateur. In other words, "the time for the equitable power share is now over," says Forum des As.

The current power share institutions shall remain until the new ones are put in place, under the terms of the all-inclusive agreement," adds Le Potentiel, echoing the Secretary-General of the "Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie" (RCD). This implies that after promulgating the new constitution, "President Joseph Kabila continues to be bound by the Transition's constitution," says La Référence Plus, further highlighting, "the political institutions resulting from the Transition's agreement will continue discharging their duties normally, under the Transition's constitution, until the new institutions are put in place," explains La Référence Plus.

Be that as it may, having promulgated the constitution, "Joseph Kabila has set the scene for the elections," says Le Phare. It is now the responsibility of "the National Assembly and Senate to adopt the electoral law, and the Independent Electoral Commission to issue an electoral calendar," reports Le Phare. There is no need to worry: "the electoral law is to be adopted by MPs today," assures L'Observateur. "A national consensus is to be reached on the electoral calendar," warns Le Potentiel, echoing Father Apollinaire Malu Malu, the Head of the Independent Electoral Commission.

Whatever the electoral calendar may be "it will be dangerous to give more pre-eminence to the presidential election on the legislative," warns Le Potentiel, echoing the Speaker of the National Assembly. Likewise, it will be more dangerous "to rush things," echoing Olivier Kamitatu. "Things must be done neatly...," urges La Tempête de Tropiques in its editorial "Confusion."