Venezuela court dashes anti-Chavez referendum plan

www.alertnet.org 23 Jan 2003 00:00

(Recasts, adds quotes, details of Thursday's marches) By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Venezuela's Supreme Court on Wednesday dashed opposition hopes of testing leftist President Hugo Chavez in a national vote next month by suspending a planned nonbinding referendum on his rule.

Although Chavez was not obliged to abide by the Feb. 2 referendum, his foes had hoped to use it to try to inflict a political defeat on the leftist leader, who is battling a seven-week-old opposition strike in the world's fifth-largest oil exporter.

The shutdown, aimed at forcing Chavez to resign or call early elections, has slashed the country's vital oil exports and pushed the economy deeper into recession.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court accepted a formal government appeal and ordered the National Electoral Council to suspend the February referendum and refrain from organizing other elections for the moment.

"This means that the referendum is frozen," council member Romulo Rangel told reporters.

The government hailed the court ruling. "We always refused to recognize (the Feb. 2 referendum), but now the Supreme Court has confirmed our position," Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said.

Opposition leaders condemned it as a biased political decision and accused Chavez of deliberately blocking their campaign for early elections on his rule.

"It's unacceptable. It's a blow to the hopes of millions of Venezuelans who are expecting an electoral solution to the crisis," opposition negotiator Rafael Alfonzo told reporters.

Supporters of Chavez, elected in 1998 six years after leading a coup attempt, planned a big show of strength in the capital on Thursday in rallies billed by the government as "the taking of Caracas."

Fearing a repeat of violent clashes that have killed at least six people and wounded dozens since the strike began on Dec. 2, opposition leaders urged their followers to stay home. But opposition marches would be held in other cities.

SHOULD HE STAY OR SHOULD HE GO?

Electoral authorities had set the referendum for Feb. 2, after the opposition collected more than 2 million signatures to request the vote. It would have asked voters whether or not the president should resign.

Chavez, who has refused calls to resign and hold early elections, objected to the vote as unconstitutional, and his supporters appealed to the Supreme Court to stop it from going ahead. Wednesday's decision opened the way for the National Assembly to appoint a new electoral body. The government has a slim majority in the assembly.

Chavez, who survived a brief coup by rebel military officers in April, had already said he would ignore the result of the February referendum, even if he lost by 90 percent.

Chavez tells his foes they should wait until Aug. 19, halfway through his term, when the constitution allows for a binding referendum on his rule, which is scheduled to last until early 2007.