Press. voanews.com
Venezuela's pro-government constitutional assembly has given itself the
power to pass laws, seizing legislative power from the opposition-led congress.
The assembly unanimously passed a decree Friday enabling it “to legislate on
matters directly aimed at ensuring the preservation of peace, security,
sovereignty, the socioeconomic financial system, the purposes of state and the
preeminence of Venezuela's human rights.”
While the decree did not explicitly dissolve congress, it stripped away
the already diminished powers of the body. Also Friday, Venezuela's ousted
chief prosecutor and her husband — two of President Nicolas Maduro's most
outspoken critics — fled the country and landed in Colombia, authorities said.
Luisa Ortega Diaz and German Ferrer arrived in Bogota aboard a private
plane traveling from Aruba, Colombian Migration authorities said. No immediate
details were provided on whether the couple was seeking asylum, with officials
confirming only that Ortega had completed the "corresponding migration
process."
Ortega and Ferrer have long been aligned with Venezuela's ruling
Socialist Party but recently broke with Maduro, publicly denouncing his push to
convene the constitutional assembly that was installed in early August.
'Here to bring order'
The president of the constituent assembly, Delcy Rodriguez, said, “We
are not going to allow more distortions, more deviations aimed at attacking
Venezuela's state of law. The constituent [assembly] is here to bring order.” After
the decree was passed, opposition lawmaker Omar Avila denounced the decision,
stressing that the constituent assembly had not provided any solutions to the
problems of everyday people.
“The constituent [assembly] is not meant to govern, it is not even meant
to act as judges, acting and chasing those who think differently,” Avila said. Venezuela's
opposition-led congress already has little power in the country as the
Socialist-dominated Supreme Court has stripped it of much of its functions and
overruled most of the laws it approved since the opposition took control last
year.
No oath of loyalty
Opposition leaders refused Friday to swear an oath of loyalty to the
constituent assembly, which they have warned would crush dissent in the
country. The election of the assembly last month was boycotted by the
opposition and triggered international condemnation. The body is charged with
rewriting the country's 1999 constitution and has given permission to Maduro to
rule by decree.
Maduro defends the all-powerful assembly as the country's only hope for
peace and prosperity.
Elections set for October
As the assembly continues to increase its powers, both the opposition
and ruling leadership work to organize gubernatorial elections set for October.
The National Election Council's president, Tibisay Lucena, announced that both
the ruling and opposition parties have registered more than 200 candidates for
the upcoming elections.
On the streets of Venezuela's capital, opinions varied on whether or not
to participate in elections. Freddy
Sanchez said government officials “have lost the notion of where they are
standing and the historical moment,” but he said elections are part of the
constitution. “This is nothing new,” he said.
Ricardo Moros of Caracas said, “I would not like to participate for the
simple reason that I feel betrayed; to participate would be to give the go-ahead
to the government.”
Voters urged to take part
Political analyst Tony Tover told VOA that it in times of crisis, it is
better to participate. “We are in a dictatorship, we are not under a rule of
law. Now, the elections of governors are constitutional, and therefore we
democrats have the duty to participate,” Tover argued.
Months of nearly daily protests against Maduro have left more than 120
people dead and hundreds more injured or jailed. The opposition has blamed
Maduro's policies for an economic crisis in the country. The government has
argued that the opposition is working with the United States to violently
overthrow the president.
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