Alternate Constitution

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Revision as of 05:03, 11 April 2010

TITLE V
The Legislative Power

Article. The legislative power shall be exercised by a Congress composed of two chambers: the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.

Article. Deputies and senators represent the nation and are not subject to any imperative mandate.

Article. Deputies and senators, and their alternates, shall hold office for a term of five years. However, should the President of the Republic make use of the authority conferred upon him by _____ of Article _____, the newly elected Congress shall operate, in such case, only during the time left for the dissolved Congress to complete its period.

Article. In being sworn into the chambers, the deputies and senators shall take an oath to fulfill their offices faithfully and patriotically, and to act in every respect in conformity with the provisions of this Constitution.

Article. The Chamber of Deputies shall consist of seventy deputies elected, with their respective alternates, directly by the people, under a system of proportional representation which takes into account the votes cast in favor of each party throughout the country.

Each department shall have at least two deputies.

The number of deputies may be changed by law, the enactment of which shall require a two-thirds vote of the full membership of each chamber.

Article. The qualifications for being elected deputy are the following:

(1) To be a _____ citizen by birth;
(2) To have attained twenty-five years of age at the time of the election;
(3) To be a native of the department to which the electoral circumscription belongs or to have had three years' continuous residence therein; and
(4) Not to be included within any of the grounds for incapacity indicated in Article _____.

Article. The Senate shall consist of thirty regular senators and their respective alternates, elected directly by the people, in a single national election district.

Article. The senators shall be elected by the system of integral proportional representation.

Article. The qualifications for being elected senator are the following:

(1) To be a _____ citizen by birth;
(2) To have attained thirty-five years of age at the time of the election; and
(3) Not to be included within any of the grounds for incapacity indicated in Article _____.

Article. Acts approved by the chambers as co-legislative bodies are termed laws. Laws which systematically cover rules relating to a given subject may be termed Codes.

Article. Organic laws are those which are so designated by this Constitution and those which are invested with this character by an absolute majority of each chamber when the respective bill is introduced therein.

Laws which are enacted on matters governed by organic laws are subject to the rules contained in the latter.

Article. The introduction of bills pertains to:

(1) Senators and deputies;
(2) The executive power; and
(3) Members of the judicial power, when matters relating to judicial organization or procedures are concerned.

Article. All bills shall be presented with a statement of reasons for them.

Article. Every bill shall have at least two discussions in each chamber, on different days and in full chamber, in accordance with the rules established in this Constitution and in the respective regulations.

Article. When a bill is approved in one of the chambers it shall be sent to the other. If the latter approves it without modifications, it becomes sanctioned as law. If it is approved with modifications it is returned to the chamber where it originated.

If the chamber of origin accepts the modifications, it is thereby sanctioned as law. Otherwise, the chambers in joint session shall decide by majority vote what is to be done with the articles on which there are differences and others having a connection with them, and they may agree on a text different from that adopted by either chamber. When the differences have been settled, the executive power will declare it sanctioned as law.

Article. Bills rejected may not be considered again in either chamber during the sessions of the same year, unless presented by an absolute majority of one of them.

The discussion of bills that were pending at the end of one session may be continued in the following sessions if so decided by the respective chamber.

Article. Ministers have the right to a voice in the discussion of laws. Any magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice and designated by that body has the same right, in the discussion of laws relating to judicial organization and procedure.

Article. Regardless of their stage of passage, the executive power may withdraw any bills that it has sent from Congress and table them or postpone their presentation until another legislative session.

Article. Within ten days following the receipt by the President of the Republic of a law approved by Congress, the former must promulgate it and order its observance.

If the executive has observations to make, they shall be presented to Congress within ten days certain. The law having been reconsidered in Congress with the observations of the executive and, nevertheless, again approved, shall be sanctioned and its promulgation and enforcement ordered.

Article. If the President of the Republic does not promulgate and order the observance of the law within ten days, it shall be promulgated and its observance ordered by the President of Congress, who shall order its publication in some newspaper.

Article. In drafting laws Congress shall use this formula:

The executive, in promulgating and ordering the observance of laws, shall use this formula:

Article. In the interpretation, amendment, or repeal of laws, the same procedure shall be followed as that established for their enactment.

Article. A law is obligatory from the day following its promulgation and publication, except when the law itself provides otherwise.

Article. Members of the public can take action before the judicial power against regulations, and against the government resolutions and decrees of a general character which infringe the Constitution or the laws, without prejudice to the political responsibility of Ministers.

The law shall establish the judicial procedure in question.

TITLE VI
The Executive Power

Article. The President of the Republic is the head of the State and personifies the Nation.

Article. The qualifications for being elected President of the Republic are the following:

(1) To be a _____ citizen by birth, in the full enjoyment of his rights, and the son of _____ parents by birth;
(2) To have attained thirty-five years of age at the time of the election;
(3) To have resided ten years continuously in the territory of the Republic;
(4) To have completed secondary education, or the equivalent thereof;
(5) To possess the moral and intellectual qualities that recommend him to hold the office;
(6) Never to have renounced his nationality at any time; and
(7) Not to be included within any of the grounds for incapacity indicated in Article _____.

Article. The President of the Republic shall be elected by direct ballot, with an absolute majority of the votes validly cast. The election shall be held at least six months prior to the end of the administration of the President of the Republic then holding office in the manner determined by law.

Should there be more than two candidates in the presidential election, none of them obtaining more than half of the votes validly cast, a new election shall be held within fifteen days following the proclamation of the official count. This election shall be limited to the two candidates with the highest relative majorities.

In relation to the provisions contained in the two preceding paragraphs, blank and null and void votes will be considered as if they had not been cast.

Article. There shall be a Vice President of the Republic, who shall be elected at the same time, in the same manner, with the same qualifications, and for the same term as the President.

Article. The term of the President of the Republic shall be five years and shall begin and end on the first of July, and no event whatever may extend his mandate.

Article. A citizen who has held the office of President of the Republic, by popular election or by appointment as ad interim, provisional, or substitute President, can in no case and for no reason again hold that office. This prohibition may not be modified or repealed. The author or authors of a proposal for modification or repeal, and those who support it, directly or indirectly, shall cease ipso facto in the occupation of their respective posts and shall be permanently incapacitated for the exercise of any public office.

Likewise, the following may not be elected President of the Republic:

(1) Relatives of the President of the Republic within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity;
(2) A military person who has been in active service within six months prior to the election;
(3) A Minister of State who has been in office at any time during the six months prior to the election;
(4) Persons who have held the position of magistrate of the courts and tribunals of justice at any time during the six months prior to the election;
(5) The leader and chiefs of a coup d'état, revolution, or other armed movement or their relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity for the period in which the constitutional regime was interrupted;
(6) Anyone who has been a Minister of State or held high military rank in a de facto government or his relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity, for the same periods indicated in the preceding paragraph; and
(7) A minister of any religious cult.

Article. The Presidency of the Republic is vacated, besides in case of death:

(1) By permanent physical or moral incapacity of the President of the Republic, declared by Congress;
(2) By the acceptance of his resignation;
(3) By a judicial sentence condemning him for the offenses enumerated in Article _____;
(4) By leaving the territory of the Republic for more than thirty days or during the last ninety days of his administration without the permission of the Senate; and
(5) By not returning to the territory of the Republic on the expiration of the permission granted to him by the Senate.

Article. The exercise of the Presidency of the Republic is suspended:

(1) By the President's commanding the armed forces in person;
(2) By the temporary physical incapacity of the President of the Republic declared by Congress; and
(3) By being brought to trial according to Article _____.

Article. In the cases of a vacancy indicated in Article _____ of the Constitution, the Vice President shall complete a term that has begun. In the cases indicated in Article _____, he shall only assume the office for such time as the impediment of the President persists.

Article. Only in the event of absence of the President and the Vice President shall the executive power be assumed by the Council of Ministers, until Congress elects a President for the remainder of the presidential term, in accordance with the provisions of Article _____ of the Constitution.

Article. In case of vacancy of the Presidency and Vice Presidency of the Republic, Congress shall elect the President for the rest of the presidential term.

If Congress is in session when a vacancy occurs, the election of the President shall be made within three days. If Congress is in recess, it must assemble in extraordinary session for the sole object of electing the President and receiving his oath. The election, in this case, shall be made within twenty days counting from that on which the vacancy occurred.

The convocation of Congress to assemble in extraordinary session to elect the President of the Republic is effected by the President of the Senate or, in default of the latter, by the President of the Chamber of Deputies.

The election of the President of the Republic by Congress shall be made by secret vote, in permanent and continuous session. The person obtaining an absolute majority of the votes shall be proclaimed elected.

Article. The President-elect shall take office before a formal joint session of Congress and shall take the following oath: "I, (name), swear before God and country that I will faithfully and patriotically discharge the office of president of the Republic of _____ and support and defend the Constitution and the laws. If I do not do this, may God and country hold me to account." If on the date established the Congress not succeed in forming a quorum in order to meet, the ceremony shall be held immediately before the Supreme Court of Justice.

Article. The President of the Republic shall present a message on the termination of his presidential term and on the inauguration of Congress in ordinary legislature. He may present messages at any time. The presidential messages must be submitted to the Council of Ministers for approval.

Article. The President of the Republic, during his term of office, may be impeached only for treason to the country; for having prevented the presidential or parliamentary elections; for dissolving Congress, except in those cases provided for in Article ______; and for serious common crimes.

Article. The official office of the President of the Republic shall be in the Government House, and the National Treasury shall defray the expense of a residence for him that is in keeping with the dignity of his office. He shall be entitled to a salary, which may not be changed during his term of office, and during that term he may not engage in any other employment, nor devote himself to his profession, business or industry, nor receive any other emolument from the Republic.

Article. The President of the Republic may not leave the national territory without the permission of the Senate, which shall fix the period for which this is granted.

In no case may a President of the Republic against whom an impeachment is pending before the Senate leave the country. Neither may former Presidents of the Republic who are in similar circumstances leave the country.

Article. The President of the Republic may not personally command the armed forces without permission from the Senate. In the event of his commanding them, he shall have only the attributes of commander-in-chief, subject to the military laws and regulations, and shall be responsible in conformity with them.

Article. The President of the Republic has the following powers and duties:

(1) To represent the State at home and abroad;
(2) To comply with and enforce the Constitution and the laws;
(3) To maintain internal order and the external security of the Republic, without contravening the Constitution or the laws;
(4) To convoke, according to the Constitution, a general election for President of the Republic and for deputies and senators;
(5) To convoke Congress to ordinary and extraordinary sessions;
(6) To attend the opening of Congress in ordinary session;
(7) To concur in the making of the laws according to the Constitution, to approve and to promulgate the same;
(8) To appoint and remove the President of the Council of Ministers and the Ministers of State, in conformity with the Constitution;
(9) To prescribe regulations, decrees, and instructions that he may deem suitable for the execution of the laws;
(10) To provide for the collection of the revenues of the Republic, decree the expenditures, and render accounts of them, in accordance with the General Budget of Revenues and Expenditures of the Republic and the laws;
(11) To command all branches of the armed forces, organize them, distribute them, and utilize them in conformity with the law;
(12) To direct wartime operations as commander-in-chief;
(13) To command in person the armed forces with the approval of the Senate. In this case the President of the Republic may reside at any place occupied by _____ arms;
(14) To commission officers of all branches of the armed forces up to and including the rank of lieutenant colonel or its equivalent and, with the approval of the Senate, the higher ranks. On the field of battle he may confer these superior military offices at his own instance;
(15) To appoint, remove, and grant leave of absence, in conformity with the law, to public officials and employees whose appointment or removal does not devolve on other officials or agencies;
(16) To grant, in conformity with the law, severance and retirement pensions and annuities;
(17) To watch over the ministerial conduct of the judges and other employees of the judicial power;
(18) To give to the judicial branch whatever assistance it may need for the expeditious exercise of its functions;
(19) To direct the foreign relations of the Republic;
(20) To receive chiefs of diplomatic missions of foreign countries and admit their consuls and to appoint ambassadors and ministers plenipotentiary of the foreign service of the Republic, with the approval of the Council of Ministers;
(21) To negotiate and sign, with the approval of the Council of Ministers, treaties of peace, friendship, commerce, navigation, alliance, boundaries, and neutrality, and concordats and other international agreements, and to ratify them after approval by the Senate;
(22) To declare war, with the authorization of Congress, and to negotiate peace;
(23) To commute sentences and grant private pardons, upon the report of the Supreme Court of Justice and in accordance with the law. Officials impeached by the Chamber of Deputies and tried by the Senate can be pardoned by Congress only. The President of the Republic may not exercise this power with respect to the Ministers of State;
(24) To grant for outstanding merit, with the approval of the Council of Ministers, the decorations, medals, diplomas, and prizes that are established by law; and
(25) To exercise the other functions of government and administration which the Constitution and the laws entrust to him.

Article. For the conduct of business corresponding to the executive branch there shall be Ministers of State. The law shall specify their number, their titles, and the departments of the administration corresponding to each.

Article. The acts of government and administration of the President of the Republic must be countersigned by the Ministers of the respective departments, with the exception of those orders that refer to the appointment or removal of his Ministers of State. Without this requirement they are null and void.

Article. The Ministers of State in assembly form the Council of Ministers. Its organization and function are determined by law. The Council of Ministers has its President. It is the responsibility of the President of the Republic to preside over the Council of Ministers when he convokes it or attends its meetings.

Article. The President of the Republic appoints and removes the President of the Council. He appoints and removes the other Ministers, on the proposal and with the agreement, respectively, of the President of the Council.

Article. The President of the Council of Ministers, who may be a minister without portfolio, has the following duties:

(1) To be the authorized spokesperson for the government, after the President of the Republic;
(2) To represent the Council of Ministers, preside over its meetings, coordinate the functions of the other Ministers, and sign the resolutions and communications of the Council together with the Minister or Ministers whom the matter concerns;
(3) To coordinate relations between the executive power and Congress;
(4) To countersign legislative decrees, emergency decrees, and other decrees and resolutions mandated by the Constitution and the law;
(5) To exercise any other powers assigned to him under the Constitution and the law.

Article. In order to be designated a Minister of State it is required to have the same qualifications as for being a deputy.

Article. The following may not be Ministers of State:

(1) Contractors for national, departmental, or municipal works and services;
(2) Persons who as a result of such contracts have claims in their own interest pending against the Public Treasury or departmental or municipal councils;
(3) Persons who have collected or administered national, departmental, or municipal funds, and whose accounts have not been settled;
(4) Delinquent debtors to the Public Treasury; and
(5) Relatives of the President of the Republic within the second degree of consanguinity or affinity.

Article. The powers and duties of the Ministers, in their respective portfolios and in accordance with the laws and regulations of the executive power, are as follows:

(1) To enforce the Constitution, laws, decrees, and resolutions;
(2) To direct, in conformity with the general policy of the executive power, the subjects within the competence of their respective ministries;
(3) To effect, within the limits of their functions, the payment of recognized debts of the State;
(4) To grant leaves of absence to the employees of their departments;
(5) To propose the appointment or discharge of employees of their divisions;
(6) To supervise administrative functions and adopt the necessary measures for their proper conduct, and to impose disciplinary penalties; and
(7) To sign and communicate the resolutions of the executive power.

Article. There are no Ministers pro tempore. The President of the Republic may, on the proposal of the President of the Council, entrust to a Minister, who retains his own ministry, the charge of another in the event of vacancy or impediment on the part of the serving Minister, but this charge may not be prolonged for more than thirty days or be transferred successively to the other Ministers.

Article. The Council of Ministers shall meet regularly on the days and hours it may determine, and extraordinarily at any time by the decision of the President of the Council or two of its members.

Article. The Council shall be in session if at least five members are present. The President of the Council has the right to speak and to vote.

Article. Any decision of the Council requires the affirmatory votes of the majority of its members.

Article. A discussion in the Council may be terminated at any time by majority vote. The motion to this effect shall not be discussed.

Article. The internal affairs of the Council shall be governed by such regulations as it may issue.

Article. The Council of Ministers has a deliberative vote and a consultative vote in the cases specified by law.

Article. The President of the Republic adjusts, with the consultative vote of the Council, conflicts of competence among the Ministers. His decision is countersigned by the President of the Council.

Article. The President of the Council, on assuming his functions, shall attend the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate separately, in company with the other Ministers, and shall explain the general policy of the executive power.

Article. The Ministers may, when they deem it expedient, attend the sessions of Congress or of the chambers and participate in discussions relating to their departments, with preference in speaking, but without the right to vote if they are not members of Congress.

They may also attend when invited to give information.

Article. The attendance of the Council of Ministers, or of any of the Ministers, is obligatory if Congress or either of the chambers calls for them in order to interpellate them.

Article. The interpellation shall be made in writing. For its acceptance it requires one fifth of the votes of the sitting representatives.

Article. Congress, or the chamber, shall indicate the day and hour for the Ministers to reply to the interpellations.

Article. Either of the chambers may pass judgment on the conduct of Ministers of State by proposing that Congress, in joint session shall declare that their acts of administration or of government are censured.

Whenever motions to this effect are presented, the chamber in which they are made shall be specially convoked, within a period of not over forty-eight hours, to decide upon its course of action.

If the motion is approved by a majority of those present, notice shall be given to Congress, which shall be called within forty-eight hours.

If upon the first convocation of Congress there are not a sufficient number of members present to hold a meeting, a second convocation shall be made and Congress shall be considered organized with the number of legislators who attend.

Article. The censure, adopted by an absolute majority of the full membership of Congress, shall require the immediate resignation of the Minister or Ministers affected by it.

Article. The nonapproval of a ministerial initiative does not oblige the Minister to resign, except in the case of his having made approval a matter of confidence.

Article. The third removal of a President of the Council of Ministers, during the same presidential term of office as a consequence of motions of censure, authorizes the President of the Republic, to dissolve Congress. The dissolution decree includes the calling of elections to form a new legislature within 60 days of the dissolution of the old.

Congress cannot be dissolved during the final year of its constitutional term of office.

Article. The exercise of the functions of a deputy or senator is not suspended while he holds office as a Minister.

Article. The Ministers may not exercise any other public function, or any professional activities.

They shall not intervene, directly or indirectly, in the direction or management of any private undertaking or association.

Article. The Ministers are responsible civilly and criminally for their own acts and for the presidential acts which they countersign.

Unless they resign immediately, all Ministers are collectively responsible for offenses against or infractions of the Constitution and of the laws which the President of the Republic commits, or which are agreed on in the Council, even though they refrain from voting.

Article. For their services, the Ministers shall receive a salary established by law, which may not be changed during their term of office.