CHAPTER THREE: DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL GOVERNANCE _____________________________________________________________________ Parliament before its adoption by referendum, except in the case of a majority vote of three-quarters of the members of the National Assembly. This means that the revision of the constitution requires a broad consensus of the political class or, where appropriate, the direct consent of the people. 191. The protection of constitutional supremacy, however, remains sluggish and even problematic in terms of its organic autonomy and the restriction of referral to the Constitutional Council. In fact, four members, including the chairperson of the council, are appointed by the president of Burkina Faso, three judges are appointed by the Higher Judicial Council, and three other members are appointed by the National Assembly. The president of the Constitutional Council, who is directly appointed by the president of Burkina Faso, does not have, like other members, the guarantee of independence – that is, a single term of nine years. This exposes the presidency of the council to a more or less discretionary appointment by the chief of the Executive, and may give rise to some doubt as to the impartiality and independence of this high body. 192. Referral to the Constitutional Council is limited to political authorities, namely the president of Burkina Faso, the prime minister, the president of the National Assembly and at least one-fifth of the members of the National Assembly under the framework of a priori control. Excluded from referral are forms of appeal by way of exception, but the court remains the guarantor of the rule of law and citizens have the right of individual appeal. This may indicate why the council has distinguished itself most in the sphere of its advisory function (its many opinions) and by way of its duties as electoral judge under the constitution. 193. On an entirely different level, the illiteracy of a large part of the population and the strong prevalence of customs among the rural population (nearly 80% of the total population) are obstacles to the effectiveness of modern and written law. All of this creates enormous difficulties in terms of the dissemination, ownership and implementation of legislated law, and the respect thereof. Very often, such law is ignored by the population, which subscribes to customary practices. This also creates real constraints with regard to citizens’ legal security and to the development of the rule of law. 194. It would therefore be desirable to overcome these shortcomings in order to ensure better affirmation of the supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law. What is required is harmonisation of the law, the dissemination of legislated law in the national languages, the sensitisation and training of citizens, and the strengthening of literacy campaigns across the territory. All of these efforts could contribute effectively to the elimination of the shortcomings. 195. Decentralisation and local governance. With the coming into force of the CGCT and the organisation of local elections (in respect of municipal and regional councils), decentralisation entered a decisive phase entailing complete communalisation and regionalisation of Burkina Faso (13 regions, 49 urban 105