Ivory Coast’s president signed a new constitution into law Tuesday, enacting a document endorsed by voters In a referendum last month. “The promises of the Third Republic are the promises of peace, stability, equality and modernity,” said the president after signing the text. The nation’s previous constitution required that both parents of a presidential candidate must be natural-born Ivorians; now only one parent must be Ivorian. The new constitution also adds the office of vice president and a senate. These are all admirable changes, but critics complain that the referendum and drafting of the constitution was rushed and lacked transparency. Opposition parties boycotted the referendum and accused authorities of using fraud to inflate voter turnout and boost the legitimacy of the new constitution. Ivory Coast is to be commended for the changes, but it still needs to look at what the nation really needs. The government must be organized so that power lies in the hand of the people, and for that, more changes must be made. See the Charter for Permanent Peace and Development for more details.