Chapter XV. Reform of the Constitution
Article 130
Proposals of constitutional reform may be initiated through a message of the President of the Republic or through a motion of any of the members of the National Congress, with the limits indicated in the first clause of article 66.
The reform proposal will require a three fourths vote of the Representatives and Senators in office in each house of the National Congress.
In cases not foreseen by this chapter, the norms regarding the formation of laws will be applicable to the processing of proposals of constitutional reform, always requiring the quorums indicated in the prior clause.
Article 131
A proposal approved by both houses will pass on to the President of the Republic.
If the President of the Republic completely rejects a reform proposal approved by both houses and they insist in their totality with the support of three fourths of the members in office within each house, the President of the Republic must promulgate said proposal, at least through consultation of the citizenry in the form of a plebiscite.
If the President partially observes a reform proposal approved by both houses, the observations will be understood to have been approved with the vote of three fifths of the members in office within each house, in accordance with the prior article, and it will return to the President for promulgation.
In the case that the houses do not approve all or some of the observations of the President, there will be no constitutional reform with regard to the points of discrepancy, except in the case that the President consults the citizenry through a plebiscite with respect to the questions in disagreement.
The organic constitutional law related to the Congress will also regulate vetos to constitutional reform proposals and their processing within the Congress.
Article 132
Convoking a plebiscite must take place within thirty days following Congress’s insistence on the project approved by them or Congress’s rejection of the observations of the President of the Republic and will be ordered through a supreme decree that will set the date of the plebiscite, which will be held one hundred and twenty days after the publication of said decree if this day is a Sunday. If it is not, the plebiscite will be held on the following Sunday. If the plebiscite is not held by the President before this date, the proposal that was approved by the Congress will be promulgated.
The decree to convoke a plebiscite will contain the proposal approved by both houses and completely vetted by the President of the Republic, or the questions of reform in which the Congress has insisted. In the latter case, each of the questions in disagreement must be voted on separately in the plebiscite.
The Tribunal Calificador will communicate to the President of the Republic the results of the plebiscite and it will specify the text of the proposal approved by the citizens, which must be promulgated as a constitutional reform within five days following said communication.
Once the proposal is promulgated and from the date it enters into force, its provisions will form part of the Constitution and will be incorporated into it.
Article 133
Without prejudice to the provisions of article 130 and those that follow it, the National Congress, with a two thirds vote of the Representatives and Senators in office in agreement may convoke a Constitutional Convention to elaborate a New Constitution.
An organic constitutional law will regulate the convocation for the convention on behalf of the Congress, the composition of the convention, the system of nominations and the election of its members, its organization, functions and attributes, as well as the mechanisms of public participation that, for this purpose, the Constitutional Convention will establish in the process of creating the New Constitution.
Once the New Constitution is approved in the Constitutional Convention, it will be sent to the President of the Republic for the President to consult the citizens through a plebiscite in which the absolute majority of the validly cast votes will determine whether it is approved or rejected. For this purpose, the vote will be obligatory. Once the proposal is sent, the Constitutional Convention will disband.
The convocation for a plebiscite must take place within thirty days following the date on which the proposal for a New Constitution sent by the Constitutional Convention is received and it will be ordered through a supreme decree that will set the date of the plebiscite, which must be held within ninety days after the publication of said decree if this day is a Sunday. If it is not a Sunday, the plebiscite will be held on the following Sunday. The decree to convoke the plebiscite will contain the options “accept” or “reject.”
The Tribunal Calificador de Elecciones will communicate to the President of the Republic the result of the plebiscite, and the President will specify the option decided by the citizens. If this is approved, the President of the Republic will promulgate the text of the New Constitution within ten days after the having communicated the result and the publication will take place within five working days after the date on which the promulgation decree is completely processed.
