Constitution
From Roach Busters
Contents |
Chapter 1
Declaration of Principles and State Policies
Declaration of Principles and State Policies
Section 1. ______ is an independent, sovereign, federal, republican state.
Section 2. (1) The principle governing the Republic is "government of the people, by the people and for the people."
(2) Power resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them. No group of people or individual can vest in themselves the exercise of power.
(3) National sovereignty belongs to the people, who shall exercise it directly by way of referendum or through their representatives.
Section 3. The protection of life, liberty, and property and the maintenance of peace and order are the prime duties of the government. The government exists to serve and protect the people.
Section 4. ______ is a secular state. The separation of church and state shall be inviolable.
Section 5. (1) ______ renounces war as an instrument of national policy, adopts the generally accepted principles of international law as part of the law of the land, and pursues a policy of peace, friendship, and expanded international relations and cooperation with all countries in the world, irrespective of their political and social systems, on the basis of respect for each other's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, and non-interference in each other's internal affairs.
(2) _______, consistent with the national interest, adopts and pursues a policy of freedom from nuclear weapons in its territory.
(3) The Republic of _____ shall not join any international military organization or permit the establishment of foreign military bases on its national territory. Nor shall foreign military forces remain in or traverse the national territory of the Republic.
Section 6. The Constitution is the supreme law of the Republic. All laws inconsistent with the Constitution shall, to the extent of such inconsistency, be null and void.
Chapter 2
Fundamental Rights and Duties of Citizens
Fundamental Rights and Duties of Citizens
(1) Every person has a right to private property, whether personal or owned in association with others.
(2) Private property, whether individually or collectively owned, is inviolable.
(3) The right to property may not be interfered with except in public interest, in circumstances and procedures determined by law and subject to fair and prior compensation.
The right of inheritance shall be guaranteed.
Chapter 3
Parliament
Parliament
Part I: General
Section 1. Legislative power shall be vested in the Parliament of the Republic, which shall consist of the Senate and the National Assembly.
Section 2. Parliament shall have full power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Republic.
Section 3. The President of the Republic may appoint such times for holding the sessions of Parliament as he thinks fit, and may also from time to time, by proclamation or otherwise, prorogue Parliament, and may in like manner dissolve the Senate or the National Assembly or the Senate and the National Assembly simultaneously, provided that the dissolution of the Senate shall not affect any senators referenced in paragraphs (a), (c), or (d) of section 1 of Part II of this Chapter.
Section 4. After any general election the Parliament shall be summoned to meet not later than thirty days after the day appointed for the return of the writs.
Section 5. There shall be a session of Parliament once at least in every year so that a period of twelve months shall not intervene between the last sitting of Parliament in one session and its first sitting in the next session.
Part II: Senate
Section 1. The Senate shall be composed of:
(a) Eight senators nominated by the President of the Republic, of whom two shall be nominated from each state;
(b) Ten senators from each state, appointed by the legislature thereof;
(c) The President of the Republic whose term of office immediately preceded that of the current President of the Republic; and
(d) The presidential candidate that received the second highest number of votes in the most recent presidential election.
Section 2. (1) The senators nominated by the President of the Republic in terms of paragraph (a) of section 1 shall hold their seats for five years.
(2) The President of the Republic shall when nominating senators have regard to the desirability of ensuring that the senate will as far as practicable consist of persons having knowledge of matters affecting the various inhabitants of the Republic.
(3) If the seat of a senator so nominated becomes vacant, the President of the Republic shall nominate another person to hold the seat until the completion of the period for which the person in whose stead he is nominated, would have held the seat.
Section 3. (1) The senators appointed in terms of paragraph (b) of section 1 shall hold their seats for five years unless the Senate be sooner dissolved.
(2) If the seat of a senator so appointed becomes vacant, the sitting members of the state legislature concerned shall elect a person to hold the seat until the completion of the period for which the person in whose stead he is appointed, would have held the seat.
Section 4. (1) The senators referenced in paragraphs (c) and (d) of section 1 shall hold their seats for five years.
(2) If the seat of either of the senators referenced in the previous sub-section becomes vacant, the President of the Republic shall nominate another person to hold the seat until the completion of the period for which the person in whose stead he is nominated, would have held the seat.
The President shall be elected by direct ballot, with an absolute majority of the votes validly
cast. The election shall be held ninety days before the end of the administration of the President 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, in the manner determined by law, fifteen days
after the Elections Qualifying Court makes the corresponding statement within the term indicated in the
following Article. 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 27.- The process of qualification of the presidential election is to be concluded within forty days following the first election or within twenty-five days following the second election. The Elections Qualifying Court shall immediately communicate the President of the Senate the proclamation of the President-elect. Plenary Congress convened in public session ninety days after the first or sole election, with the members in attendance, shall take cognizance of the decision by virtue of which the Elections Qualifying Court proclaims the President-elect. In this same act, the President-elect shall be bound by oath before the President of the Senate to faithfully perform his duties as President of the Republic, to preserve the independence of the Nation, comply with and enforce compliance with the Constitution and the law, and he shall take office immediately thereafter.
Article 28.- Should the President-elect be unable to take office, the President of the Senate shall assume, in the meantime, in the capacity of Vice-President of the Republic; in his absence, the President of the Supreme Court, and in the absence of the latter, the President of the Chamber of Deputies. Nevertheless, should the inability of the President-elect be absolute or should it continue indefinitely, the Vice-President within the term of ten days following the Senate agreement adopted in accordance with Article 49, No 7, shall issue the appropriate orders for steps to be taken within a period of sixty days to proceed with a new election in the manner prescribed for by the Constitution and the Electoral law.
Article 29.- If, because of temporary incapacity, either illness, absence from the country or some other serious reason, the President of the Republic is unable to hold office, he shall be replaced by the incumbent Minister of State as Vice-President of the Republic, in accordance with the order of legal precedence. In the absence of such Minister, the Minister who follows in the order of precedence shall succeed him; and in the absence of all of them, the President of the Senate, the President of the Supreme Court and the President of the Chamber of Deputies, successively, shall substitute for him. In case of vacancy in the Presidency of the Republic, the successor shall be appointed by the Senate with an absolute majority of its members in office and shall remain in office until the next general election of members of Congress when a new presidential election shall be held for the period referred to in the second paragraph of Article 25. The Senate shall make its appointment within ten days following the date of the vacancy. In the meantime, the substitution procedures referred to in the preceding paragraph shall apply. The President thus designated may not become a candidate in the following presidential election.
Article 30.- The President shall leave office on the same day on which his term is completed and shall be succeeded by the newly-elected President.
Article 31.- The President designated by the Senate, or, as the case may be, the Vice-President of the Republic, shall have all the authority which the Constitution confers upon the President of the Republic; however, he shall not be empowered to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies.
