Venezuela leader
promises constitution referendum to calm crisis
CARACAS, June 3: - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has offered to hold a referendum on contested constitutional reforms in an apparent bid to calm critics in his own camp as he resists opposition efforts to remove him from office.
CARACAS, June 3: - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has offered to hold a referendum on contested constitutional reforms in an apparent bid to calm critics in his own camp as he resists opposition efforts to remove him from office.
The
surprise announcement late Thursday followed two months of deadly unrest during
anti-government protests and signs of division in the socialist leader's side.
On
Friday, student protesters entered the headquarters of official television
channel VTV, where they lobbed accusations against Communications Minister
Ernesto Villegas.
The
opposition says his constitutional reform plan is a bid to cling to power --
and key allies such as Attorney General Luisa Ortega have broken ranks with
him, arguing it is undemocratic.
"In
light of what is happening in this country, I would like to push back this
Constituent Assembly, ask the National Electoral Council to advance regional
elections and continue to press for dialogue," Ortega told Union Radio.
Maduro's
announcement, at a cabinet meeting, came just hours after Ortega filed a legal
challenge against the plan. The presidents called opponents of the move
"traitors". Maduro aims to set up an elected constitutional reform
body called a constituent assembly. His opponents say he will fill it with his
allies.
-
'Political ploy' -
Analysts
were skeptical about Maduro's referendum announcement, saying that
constitutionally he was not authorized to call such a vote.
"It
is a political ploy," said analyst Luis Vicente Leon, president of polling
firm Datanalisis.
"It
breaks the main criticism" leveled at Maduro by Ortega and other critics,
"to lower the tension and calm the internal demons" in the government
camp, Leon said. Ortega has been a traditional ally of the socialist leadership
since the time of Maduro's late predecessor Hugo Chavez.
Now,
she calls the court's ruling in favor of allowing the reforms to move forward
without a popular vote a "setback" in human rights and participatory
democracy.
Her
challenge at the constitutional court does not have legal force to stop
Maduro's plan, but "shows the divisions and disagreements within
Chavismo," said Leon. Elected in 2013, Maduro is resisting opposition
calls for early elections to remove him.
The
opposition blames him for severe food and medicine shortages in the oil-rich
nation. He says the crisis is a US-backed conspiracy. State prosecutors say 63
people have been killed in two months of unrest, which have seen protesters
clash daily with riot police.
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