Bogota, June 4 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Colombia’s chamber of deputies approved a constitutional reform bill that eliminates presidential re-election in any form. The bill, which has already been approved by the senate, was passed in the 166-seat lower chamber of congress by 90 votes to 10.

The legilation states that “no citizen that has held the presidency in whatever form, may be elected as President.” The measure also stipulates that once incorporated into the constitution, it can only be changed via a constituent assembly or national referendum.

Colombia's 1991 constitution abolished presidential re-elections, but in 2004 an article was amended to allow then-President Alvaro Uribe to seek re-election. Numerous politicians have admitted to bribery in connection with their vote to allow Uribe’s re-election.

Both Uribe and current president Juan Manuel Santos were subsequently re-elected as presidents. The bill approved Wednesday was backed by Santos' government and forms part of a wider political reform package that is being promoted by his administration.

President Santos has outlined ambitious legislative political proposals for 2015, which seeks to transform state institutions through fiscal and judiciary reform, following a series of scandals.

Later this week, the chamber of deputies is expected to address the rest of the political reform package including an overhaul of the justice system, which was prompted by a corruption scandal that led to the resignation of the president of the Constitutional Court. The justice reform legislation, seeks to speed up legal procedures by decentralizing the justice system as well as attempts to strengthen the balance of powers between the branches of government.