Showdown brews in Venezuela parliament
Opponents of socialist revolution are in control of National Assembly the first time in 17 years
Forget the ceremonial gavel passing and group photos. Venezuela’s new congress, now dominated by opponents of the socialist administration, is being sworn in yesterday amid duelling street demonstrations, mutual accusations of subverting democracy and a looming potential for violence.
With the seating of the newly elected National Assembly, it will be the first time in 17 years that opponents of the socialist revolution begun by the late President Hugo Chavez will control any institution in South American country.
Incoming opposition lawmakers are promising to use their new muscle to make sweeping changes, while the socialist party of current President Nicolas Maduro has been equally adamant that the legislature will not be allowed to roll back Chavez’s revolution.
The Supreme Court last week barred three opposition lawmakers from taking their seats, responding to a challenge by supporters of the socialists who accuse the opposition of stealing the December 6 legislative election. That ruling could snatch away the opposition’s two-thirds majority, which it will need to make any major move, such as firing top officials or rewriting the constitution.
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On Monday, the incoming congress president, Henry Ramos, reiterated his promise to swear in all lawmakers and said Maduro should consider resigning to save Venezuela from a political crisis, echoing a call hardliners made in 2014 when they launched a street protest movement that resulted in dozens of deaths. “The people put their trust in us, and we can’t just go home and knit booties to avoid conflict,” the 72-year-old Ramos told reporters. “We must wield our power.”
Such acerbic statements are a trademark of Ramos, a wily, pre-Chavez era politician whose promotion to the top spot in congress over a fresher face has exposed internal rifts that will dog the opposition.
The coalition’s more moderate wing has lambasted the hardliners’ strategy of trying to force Maduro from office and wants to take pragmatic steps to wrench the oil-dependent economy out of a tailspin marked by triple-digit inflation and the world’s deepest recession. The factions have agreed on a basic agenda that includes granting amnesty to dozens of jailed leaders that human rights groups consider political prisoners, pushing for the release of central bank data and giving Maduro a six-month deadline to fall in line with the opposition’s economic programme.
Incoming lawmakers are also promising to use the National Assembly as a tool for accountability, holding investigative hearings and commissioning audits of government agencies.