listed--in practice, the largest and most important ones. Presidents and governors were chosen in indirect elections by the correspondent Legislative branch (the National Congress and State Legislatures). However, these "elections" were elaborate shams. In practice, the president was selected by the military command, while governors were hand-picked by the president and his advisers. The federal and state legislatures were dominated by government supporters, meaning the government candidate could not possibly be defeated. Restriction of civil rights: any meeting, assembly, or gathering of people should be formal, must be previously authorized, and conducted under supervision. Unauthorized meetings would be disbanded by the police and participants sued if lucky; they were more likely imprisoned, tortured, or worse. Military (uniformed) State Police Corps acknowledged as reserve corps of the Federal Army (as well as State Fire Brigades), with the task of outdoor patrolling to "provide public security", thereby reducing the autonomy of the existing civilian (plainclothes) police to an investigative role. Removal of all privileges of judges, allowing the president to force them to retire or to remove them (the latter was never used). After previously disbanding of all political parties (which had existed for only twenty years), new rules were written on the formation of parties. These rules were so restrictive that only two parties were formed—the government party, the National Renewal Alliance Party (Arena), and the controlled opposition of the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB). Limitation of states' autonomy. Establishment of a series of controls, commissions, and institutions to regulate and report a number of aspects of civil, social, and economic life, thus intensifying an already existing trend towards bureaucracy, top-heavy management of the economy by the central government. Granting the president the right to issue decrees (Decretos-Lei) that would enter in force at the moment of their publication and be inscribed in the statute-book after 30 days in the absence of Congressional deliberation on them. Amendments of 1969 In 1969, this already severely authoritarian document was widely amended by a provisional military junta and made even more repressive. The 1969 Amendment is sometimes regarded as a seventh Constitution, because it almost completely rewrote the text of the 1967 document. The new constitutional text brought some extra tools for the regime: Giving the president the right to declare a state of emergency and suspend constitutional freedoms. Broadened capital punishment. Banishment – with loss of citizenship – as punishment. Suspension of habeas corpus.