At the end of 1968 the military ministers were embroiled in a conflict with the Chamber of Deputies over a member who allegedly had insulted the Armed Forces. The outcome was the Institutional Act No. 5 (13 Dec 1968), abolishing constitutional rights, and Complementary Act No. 38 (13 Dec 1968), proroguing the Chamber. After President Artur da Costa e Silva showed first signs of cerebral thrombosis, the military ministers issued the Ato Institucional N.° 12 (Institutional Act No. 12, 31 Aug 1969) [1] temporarily assuming the presidency in violation of constitutional rights of vice president Pedro Aleixo. With no prospects for recovery of the president, the ministers issued the Institutional Act No. 16 (14 Oct 1969), which declared the office of president vacant. General Emílio Garrastazu Médici was elected a new president by the electors on 25 Oct 1969 and took the oath of office on 30 Oct 1969. |
| [1] |
The original publication of the Ato Institucional n.° 12 in Diário Oficial, Seção I - Parte I, Segunda-feira, 1.° de setembro de 1969, p. 7.369 was dated 1 Sep 1969 ("Ato Institucional n.° 12, de 1 de setembro de 1969" in the heading, "Rio de Janeiro - GB, 1.° de setembro de 1969; 148º da Independência e 81º da República." in the body). A rectified version of the act appeared in Diário Oficial, Seção I - Parte I, N.° 173, Quarta-feira, 10 de setembro de 1969, p. 7.649 with the purpose to extend the number of signatories from the original four to sixteen. Although the rectified act did not explicitly provide for changes in the date of coming into force, it was titled "Ato Institucional n.° 12, de 31 de agosto de 1969" and all further documents issued by the military ministers between in the period ending 30 Oct 1969 referred solely to the corrected title. |
