According to the 1999 Constitution, its provisions can be reviewed and modified only through the specific means established for such purpose, that is, the convening of a National Constituent National Assembly; the proposing, sanctioning, and popular approving of a “constitutional reform”; or the proposing and popular approving of a “constitutional amendment” (Articles 340–349). The common trend of all these constitutional review procedures is that the intervention of the people through referenda is always required for the Constitution to be modified, so no constitutional review is possible without the vote of the people. Any other modification, reform, or amendment to the Constitution adopted through any other means is to be considered illegitimate.

That is why, in 2007, in order to modify the Constitution for the purpose of reinforcing the authoritarian, socialist, centralized, and militaristic state that has been built during the past decade, the president proposed an extensive “constitutional reform” that after being sanctioned by the National Assembly was rejected by the people in the December 2007 referendum. After this defeat, the following year, the National Assembly sanctioned a “constitutional amendment” draft in order to implement one aspect of the 2007 reforms proposals rejected by the people, referred to the continuous and indefinite possibility for reelection of the president and other elected officials, which eventually was approved in the referendum that took place in February 2009.