Chavez inauguration delay stirs opposition
Source: Agencies |
January 10, 2013, Thursday
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VENEZUELA'S congress has voted to postpone the inauguration of President Hugo Chavez, which was scheduled for today, to let him recover from cancer surgery in Cuba. Critics say that violates the country's constitution.
Venezuela's opposition says it plans to ask the Supreme Court to rule on whether the constitution allows a delay in the swearing-in of cancer-stricken Chavez. Yesterday's announcement by opposition leader Ramon Guillermo Aveledo comes after Congress voted to postpone Chavez's inauguration. Aveledo didn't say when or how the opposition intends to bring its challenge.
Chavez's congressional allies, who hold a majority of seats in the National Assembly, agreed with a government proposal for Chavez to be sworn in at a later date before the Supreme Court. Pro-Chavez lawmakers approved the plan with a show of hands.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro broke the news that Chavez would not be able to attend today's scheduled inauguration in a letter to National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, confirming suspicions that Chavez's battle with cancer and a related respiratory infection would keep him in a Cuban hospital past the key date.
Maduro said that on the recommendation of Chavez's medical team, his recovery process "should be extended beyond January 10."
The vice president said Chavez was invoking a provision in the constitution allowing him to be sworn in before the Supreme Court at a "later date." The opposition disputed that argument and appealed to the Organization of American States, but did not appear to have other immediate recourse.
Tensions between the government and opposition have been building for days in the dispute over whether the ailing president's swearing-in can legally be postponed. The president underwent his fourth cancer-related surgery in Cuba last month and hasn't spoken publicly in a month.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles said Chavez's current term constitutionally ends today and that the Supreme Court should rule in the matter.
Other opposition leaders have argued that the inauguration cannot legally be put off and that the National Assembly president should take over as interim president if Chavez hasn't returned from Cuba on inauguration day.
"The Supreme Court has to take a position on what the text of the constitution says," said Capriles, who lost to Chavez in presidential elections three months ago. "There is no monarchy here, and we aren't in Cuba."
However, Capriles said he saw no reason to bring a formal challenge to the Supreme Court because it was obliged to issue a ruling on the dispute.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a legal challenge brought by an individual lawyer, Otoniel Pautt Andrade, who had argued that it would violate the constitution for Cabello to refuse to assume the presidency provisionally. The court's ruling didn't provide a detailed interpretation, but it made clear the court backs the government's stance.
Venezuela's opposition says it plans to ask the Supreme Court to rule on whether the constitution allows a delay in the swearing-in of cancer-stricken Chavez. Yesterday's announcement by opposition leader Ramon Guillermo Aveledo comes after Congress voted to postpone Chavez's inauguration. Aveledo didn't say when or how the opposition intends to bring its challenge.
Chavez's congressional allies, who hold a majority of seats in the National Assembly, agreed with a government proposal for Chavez to be sworn in at a later date before the Supreme Court. Pro-Chavez lawmakers approved the plan with a show of hands.
Vice President Nicolas Maduro broke the news that Chavez would not be able to attend today's scheduled inauguration in a letter to National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, confirming suspicions that Chavez's battle with cancer and a related respiratory infection would keep him in a Cuban hospital past the key date.
Maduro said that on the recommendation of Chavez's medical team, his recovery process "should be extended beyond January 10."
The vice president said Chavez was invoking a provision in the constitution allowing him to be sworn in before the Supreme Court at a "later date." The opposition disputed that argument and appealed to the Organization of American States, but did not appear to have other immediate recourse.
Tensions between the government and opposition have been building for days in the dispute over whether the ailing president's swearing-in can legally be postponed. The president underwent his fourth cancer-related surgery in Cuba last month and hasn't spoken publicly in a month.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles said Chavez's current term constitutionally ends today and that the Supreme Court should rule in the matter.
Other opposition leaders have argued that the inauguration cannot legally be put off and that the National Assembly president should take over as interim president if Chavez hasn't returned from Cuba on inauguration day.
"The Supreme Court has to take a position on what the text of the constitution says," said Capriles, who lost to Chavez in presidential elections three months ago. "There is no monarchy here, and we aren't in Cuba."
However, Capriles said he saw no reason to bring a formal challenge to the Supreme Court because it was obliged to issue a ruling on the dispute.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a legal challenge brought by an individual lawyer, Otoniel Pautt Andrade, who had argued that it would violate the constitution for Cabello to refuse to assume the presidency provisionally. The court's ruling didn't provide a detailed interpretation, but it made clear the court backs the government's stance.
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