Venezuela on Tuesday sank deeper into a messy political crisis as the opposition-controlled National Assembly suspended its session after the Supreme Court declared it null and void.
Speaking before a nearly empty chamber, Assembly Speaker Henry Ramos Allup, a fierce opponent of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, declared the National Assembly lacked a quorum and would reconvene yesterday morning.
The temporary legislative vacuum further complicates the tumultuous political scenario.
Photo: AFP
The opposition won a landslide election victory last month, but is fighting what it calls a biased Supreme Court to cling to its powerful two-thirds majority.
The court on Monday invalidated the current legislature on the grounds that Ramos Allup ignored its judges’ ruling by swearing in three opposition lawmakers from Amazonas state, where an investigation is underway into alleged vote-buying.
At stake in the power struggle between the legislature and judiciary is the opposition’s “super-majority,” which it has vowed to use to force Maduro from office within six months.
The two-thirds majority also gives it the power to remove judges from the Supreme Court, which the opposition accuses Maduro of packing with his allies.
The opposition had initially vowed to press ahead with Tuesday’s legislative session in defiance of the court’s latest ruling, but no lawmakers from Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela were in the legislature and just a handful of deputies from the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable were there.
Legislative sources said the opposition was consulting its lawyers to decide how to respond to the Supreme Court.
In what could be a sign of a more conciliatory approach by the Maduro administration, Ramos Allup said he had spoken twice on the phone with Vice President Aristobulo Isturiz.
“I think the vice president will be a facilitator in communications between the government and the opposition, between the branches of government and above all between the executive and the legislature. We’re hoping that line of communication will remain open,” he said.
However, Maduro’s right-hand man, former speaker Diosdado Cabello, struck a more confrontational tone, proposing the Supreme Court could take over legislative powers amid the standoff.
“We’re going to go to the Supreme Court of Justice ... to request clarification and see what happens with a legislative void, because the president isn’t going to violate the constitution,” Cabello told journalists.
Under Venezuela’s constitution, Maduro must present his annual report to the National Assembly by tomorrow — which he may not be able to do if the legislature is not in session.
Organization of American States Secretary-General Luis Almagro called the Supreme Court ruling a “direct blow” to the will of voters, and warned of an “erosion of democracy” in the country.
“All of this constitutes an erosion of democracy, which contravenes the fundamental pillars” of the organization, Almagro said in an open letter to Maduro.
Venezuela, the country with the world’s largest proven oil reserves, has sunk ever deeper into economic crisis as crude prices have plunged in recent months.
A deep recession and what analysts say is the world’s highest inflation rate have fueled discontent with Maduro, whose term runs until 2019.
The suspension of the legislature comes after opposition lawmakers on Monday introduced a bill on one of their top initiatives, an amnesty for 75 jailed opposition figures they say are political prisoners.
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