Supporters and opponents of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez gathered for rival rallies on Wednesday to mark the start of a new parliament shorn of power by the radical socialist leader's assumption of decree rule.
The outgoing National Assembly gave Chavez special decree powers for 18 months, hobbling an incoming parliament with a larger presence of opposition legislators who had hoped to put a brake on the former soldier's leftist "revolution."
Opposition supporters -- who were grouping in downtown Caracas before their new lawmakers were to take their seats -- accuse the president of staging a "coup" against the Assembly and say he is turning Venezuelainto a dictatorship.
"Our tasks in the National Assembly are now very clear: to stop the imposition of communism in Venezuela, this communism that creates death, sadness and darkness, and robs our children of their future," said one opposition leader and new Caracas legislator, Maria Corina Machado.
Chavez, 56, says he needs decree powers for urgent reconstruction after floods swept the South American OPEC member and left nearly 140,000 homeless.
He insists he is ruling in the name of a poor majority downtrodden for decades until he took office in 1999.
CHAVEZ: I'M NO DICTATOR
On the eve of Wednesday's convening of parliament, Chavez surprised Venezuelans with a late-night speech announcing he was not approving a controversial new university law nor would he raise sales taxes as previously announced.
Both measures had been fiercely criticized by the opposition, so Chavez's announcement may have been intended to reduce tension and undermine protesters' slogans.
All sides are eyeing the next presidential vote in December 2012, when Chavez will seek re-election and the opposition hope to find a unity candidate who can unseat him.
A newly united opposition coalition won about half the popular vote in a September legislative election, giving them 40 percent of seats in parliament and an important symbolic boost in their long and largely fruitless battle against Chavez.
But Chavez moved quickly to sideline the opposition's advance by pushing a host of laws through the outgoing parliament to entrench socialism and increase state control of areas from the Internet to the financial sector.
A New Year's devaluation of the currency has further stirred passions, with the opposition saying it shows Chavez's mismanagement of the economy and oil revenues.
The opposition is returning to parliament for the first time in five years following a boycott of the 2005 legislative election that they now regret.
The Democratic Unity opposition coalition has 65 seats in the 165-member Assembly, compared to 98 for Chavez's ruling Socialist Party. A smaller party, which recently broke with Chavez, has two seats.
Chavez said his decision not to approve the new university law proved he was no tyrant.
"This demonstrates, yet again, that Venezuela has a democratic government which listens and reasons, and a president who is willing to rectify and appeal for debate and reflection when necessary," he said.
Source: Reuters
0 comments:
Post a Comment