New Battle for Indefinite Reelection

[Venezuela is heading for another electoral battle, after President Hugo Chávez kicked off 2009 by putting forward a new proposal to reform the constitution so that all elected officials may be indefinitely reelected.]

VENEZUELA: New Battle for Indefinite Reelection

January 9th 2009, by Humberto Márquez - IPS

Venezuela is heading for another electoral battle, after President Hugo Chávez kicked off 2009 by putting forward a new proposal to reform the constitution so that all elected officials may be indefinitely reelected.

In December, Chávez proposed a draft amendment to the 1999 constitution that he promoted, but the aim then was to allow only the Venezuelan president to stand for indefinite reelection.

After the Christmas and New Year break, the president and his United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) changed tack and proposed that at least five articles be amended, so that "the right to run for office without restrictions is extended to governors, mayors, and (national and regional) legislators," Chávez said.

"I think this strengthens the (amendment proposal). It is an extension of the right of the people to elect without restrictions and to nominate whomever they want. It's the theory of good governance: if a governor is doing a good job, the people have the right to reelect him as many times as they like," Chávez said at a televised PSUV meeting.

After becoming president in 1999, Chávez renewed his mandate under the new constitution in 2000, and was reelected in 2006 for another six-year term, which expires in January 2013 according to present law.

But in late 2008 the president posed "the need to continue at the helm at least until 2019. After that, God and the people will decide," he said.

"There will be a battle between the government and the opposition to see which side appeals most strongly to the democratic values of the people," analyst Oscar Schémel, the head of the Hinterlaces polling firm, told IPS.

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