however, was criticized even by civilian supporters of the regime, and the existence of a triumvirate was deemed potentially unstable. Also, the physicians attending the incapacitated President were of the opinion that he would never recover from the physical and mental consequences of the stroke and that accordingly he would never be able to resume the powers and duties of the office. It was also claimed that during intervals of lucidity, Costa e Silva had told military personnel and members of his family that he desired to be replaced president. The High Command of the Armed Forces also considered that a permanent replacement of Costa e Silva and Aleixo was in the interests of the regime. Those factors led the Military Junta to issue on October 14, 1969 the Institutional Act number 16 (AI-16). By that Act, Costa e Silva was formally removed from office. The vice presidency was declared vacant as well, thus removing Aleixo from the scene. The National Congress was called out of its two-year recess, and charged with the task of electing a new President and Vice-President. In reality, the role of the Legislature (which had been purged of several opposition members under the provisions of AI-5) was merely to rubber-stamp the names chosen by the military elites that controlled the regime. The military's party, the National Renewal Alliance (ARENA), had an overwhelming majority in both houses, meaning its candidate could not have possibly been defeated even if the opposition Brazilian Democratic Movement had put forward a candidate. The elections were set to take place on October 25. AI-16 also established that the new President and Vice-President would be inaugurated on October 30, 1969, and that their term of office would last until March 1974. AI-16 further decreed that, until the election and inauguration of the new President and Vice-President, the Military Junta would remain in place discharging the fullness of the authority of the presidency. Accordingly, the Military Junta remained in existence until the inauguration of General Emílio Médici as President of the Republic on October 30, 1969. There was no chairman of the junta, and all official acts of the Junta were jointly signed by its three members. While General Lyra Tavares, as representative of the Army, the most powerful branch of the Armed Forces in the operation of the regime, is believed to have been the main decisionmaker within the Junta, no formal