Mexico's lower house votes to strip lawmakers of immunity![]() March 6, 2013 - 09:59 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Mexico's lower house of Congress voted overwhelmingly Tuesday, March 5 to strip federal lawmakers of criminal immunity, part of a larger reform push in Latin America's second-largest economy, Reuters reported. The vote was 376 in favor to 56 opposed, with five abstentions. The bill aims to amend the country's constitution to make federal senators and deputies subject to the country's criminal justice system, but still protect lawmakers from being detained for the duration of their terms in office. The proposal, which would also apply to other high-ranking federal officials, now moves to the Mexican Senate for consideration. The bill is part of a larger reform push aimed at fostering more transparency by new President Enrique Pena Nieto of the centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, and the party's allies in Congress. Partner news Jorge Rafael Videla, an austere former army commander, led Argentina during the bloodiest days of its Dirty War dictatorship. According to the United Nations, April was Iraq's bloodiest month for almost five years, with 712 people killed. Reports suggest the rebel fighters may have tried to blow up the walls of the prison, which holds some 4,000 inmates. Moscow has condemned other nations for supporting rebel forces and failing to condemn what it describes as terrorist attacks on the Syrian regime. Partner news |