The project, as it involved several constitutional reforms, required the votes of two-thirds of the 130 members of Congress (87), of whom 71 voted in favor of the text, 45 opposed and six abstained.
Once the qualified majority required for constitutional reform had been reached, the text only had to be passed in a new legislature that was about to begin.
Proponents of the project rushed what lasted only a few days for immediate approval, but met resistance and had to make a number of changes to reach consensus, which they failed to do.
The main Left and Center argument against the project was the fact that the restoration of the bicameral system abolished in the 1993 constitution and the re-election of parliamentarians were rejected in a December 2018 referendum on constitutional reform.
In the consultation, 85.86 percent of voters voted in favor of the reform, which banned parliamentary re-election, and 90.59 percent against a return to the bicameral system.
Faced with such precedent, advocates to the contrary argued that a long time had passed since the referendum and that these results were outdated.
Left-wing Congressman Guillermo Bermejo found it paradoxical that the opposition, refusing to debate a progressive referendum project on the demand for a Constituent Assembly, proposed more than 50 constitutional amendments based on their interests and without consulting the populace.
Another strong argument from politicians and analysts against the project, promoted by Parliament Speaker Maricarmen Alva and far-right MP Patricia Juárez, is the unpopularity of Congress, with polls showing up to 82 percent opposed.
After today’s result, the opposition majority hailed it as a victory and Alva declared that the project must be ratified in a referendum in order to be processed.
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