their May ruling), specifically looking to societal values and reflecting on the usefulness of legal norms to certain purposes deemed valuable to the society. The court made reference to peace, a value explicitly mentioned in the preamble of the 1886 constitution. In summary, the court declared that it was insufficient to consider only article 218 (and 13) in ruling on decree 1926's constitutionality: Among its other considerations, the court emphasized the notions of sovereignty, popular sovereignty and the idea of the 'primary constituent' (constituyente primario), that is to say the Colombian nation (or people). The court's ruling declared that the 'primary constituent' can, at any time, give itself a new constitution without being subject to the requirements imposed by the constitution in force until then. It cited as precedent the modification of the 1886 constitution by plebiscite in 1957, or the adoption of the very constitution of 1886 through other means than those set by the Colombian Constitution of 1863. The judgement also referenced prior constitutional jurisprudence. Firstly, it mentioned a 1957 ruling on that year's plebiscite which said that the power to modify the constitution did not stem from the constitution itself but rather from 'the revolution' or the "exercise of the latent sovereignty in the people as constituent will.". Secondly, it looked at a 1987 ruling, also concerning the constitutionality of the 1957 plebiscite, in which it had declared that "when the people, exercising its sovereign and inalienable power, decides to pronounce itself on the constitutional text that will govern their destiny, it is not and cannot be subject to the legal regulations which precede its decision." The 1987 decision had also called the 'primary constituent act' "the expression of the highest political will", free from any judicial limitations. Summarizing its opinion, the majority wrote: Based on these arguments, the court ruled that the agenda set by the political agreement was unconstitutional as it placed undue limits on the powers of the primary constituent. The court's sentence removed, from the December 9 referendum question, any reference to limits imposed on the assembly by the August 1990 political agreement. It also struck down a requirement for a deposit of COL$ 5,000,000 from candidates. Constitutional Assembly Elections to the Constitutional Assembly were held on December 9, simultaneously with the referendum authorizing the convening of said assembly for February 5, 1991. The elections were overshadowed by the massive abstention - of