The new constitution drafted by the Assembly replaced the constitution of 1940. It limited the president to two five-year terms, but a transitory article stated that only those terms completed after the 1968 election would count toward the two-term limit. This had the effect of allowing President
Alfredo Stroessner, in office since 1954, to run for two more terms in office. The exercise of dictatorial powers was forbidden, and all officials were required to act in accordance with the constitution. The new constitution maintained the authoritarian character of its predecessor. While it banned the use of dictatorial powers, it also vested the president with many of the sweeping executive and legislative powers they had held in the 1940 constitution. Congress was prevented from carrying out autonomous actions, while the judiciary was dependent upon presidential appointment. The president retained the ability to dissolve Congress if they felt it had acted in a manner that disturbed the separation of powers. Having already ruled under what amounted to martial law for most of his first thirteen years in office (apart from a 24-hour period on election day) Stroessner continued doing so even after the new constitution was promulgated, effectively nullifying constitutional guarantees of civil rights. ==References==