Venezuela: National Assembly President Maduro Announces Legislation Enabling Chávez to Rule until 2030
Editorial | El Universal
Caracas | 6 December 2005 | The new National Assembly, to be installed in January under the officialdom's total control, will pass legislation enabling Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to govern until the year 2030, thus affirmed today the President of the Assembly, Nicolás Maduro, as reported by DPA [Deutsche Presse Agentur - German Press Agency].
Maduro presented priorities for the new legislative session during an event where a proclamation was made announcing the Assembly Members from Caracas who were elected in Sunday’s election, in which the opposition did not participate.
Maduro said that he foresees the passing of various laws "for the people and with the people" and stressed that the main contribution of the new Assembly will be to legislate in order to "consolidate the [Bolivarian] revolution.”
“One Assembly cycle has ended and now another one begins, meant to accelerate the revolution and the changes of and for the people. The main line of defense, the contribution of this new Assembly, will be the consolidation of the revolution and legislation enabling Chávez to rule not just until 2021, but until 2030 instead," he said amidst applause.
The projection of presidential reelections [beyond current limits] was part of the debate prior to Sunday's election and now, with a National Assembly controlled by the officialdom, any constitutional reform concerning the matter is just around the corner.
Under the current Constitution, ratified six years ago in a referendum, only one immediate presidential reelection is permitted.
Chávez had previously expressed that he planned to retire from pubic life in 2021, but starting this year he has expanded his horizon until 2030.
During a speech where he accused the President of the United States, George W. Bush, of conspiring against the Venezuelan Government, Maduro advised the new Assembly Members that it was their duty to defend Chávez and the nation “with their lives.”
He added that 2006 will be a year for defining things, because there will be a presidential election, the proposed debate being, "It’s either Chávez or Bush."
“The country faces a series of threats because we have before us acts of imperialism and a group of people who are here conspiring with a lot of money. We have to prepare ourselves because 2006 will be a definitive year, when the definition is going to be either them or our sovereignty, either Chávez or Bush,” he asserted.
Maduro affirmed that the opposition withdrew from the legislative elections under orders from Washington and as a result now “we have 167 patriotic and revolutionary assembly members.”
The candidates of the officialdom were elected in an unusual election in which abstention exceeded 75 percent, according to official figures.
Translation by W.K.
send this article to a friend >>