Paraguay's Senate [4] on March 31 approved a constitutional amendment lifting the one-term rule for presidents. Put in place by Paraguay's 1992 Constitution [5] following long years of dictatorship, the current rules limit the president to one five-year term. President Horacio Cartes [6] is seeking to lift the one-term limit, a measure supported in the Senate by 25 of 45 legislators. The vote will now go to the Chamber of Deputies [7], where 44 of the 80 members belong to the president's Colorado Party [8]. If approved there, the vote will go to a national referendum. In the interim, protests have erupted outside Congress, with at least one protestor reported killed and the Congressional building burned.
Opponents of the term-limit lift assert that it is unconstitutional, including Senate President Roberto Acevedo of the opposition Authentic Radical Liberal Party, who argued [9] that the means used to bring the amendment to a vote violated Senate rules.
From Jurist [10], April 1. Used with permission.