(Bloomberg) -- The Central African Republic’s top court blocked President Faustin-Archange Touadera’s bid to push through a new constitution that his opponents say is an attempt to tighten the presidency’s grip on power and pave the way for him to stand for a third term. 

A constitutional review can only happen after a new senate has been sworn in, the court said on Friday in its ruling, which invalidated a decree to create a committee to draft a new constitution. 

The judgment is the second the Constitutional Court has delivered against Touadera, who’s due to step down in 2025 after serving the maximum two terms. Last month, it ruled that an attempt by the central African nation’s government to offer land and mineral resources to investors in return for payments in a local cryptocurrency, known as Sango Coin, was illegal. 

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.