Split over Chavez tears apart Venezuelan parliament

06 Jun 2003 19:16:26 GMT By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela, June 6 (Reuters-AlertNet) - Venezuelan National Assembly deputies supporting President Hugo Chavez held a parliament session in a Caracas park Friday, approving reforms the absent opposition condemned as an illegal attempt to avoid democratic debate.

Opposition deputies boycotted the bizarre outdoor session by the pro-Chavez majority and accused the government side of trying to force through laws the opposition fears will restrict democracy in Venezuela.

The 93 pro-government deputies said they were forced to hold the one-sided session outside the National Assembly to overcome what they called an opposition block on legislation in a key parliament drafting committee.

"What we are doing is freeing up laws that had been kidnapped (by the opposition)," Deputy Nicolas Maduro told Reuters.

Protected by police and troops and cheered on by sympathizers, the pro-government members of parliament met in a large tent in El Calvario, a crime-ridden city park located in fiercely pro-Chavez west Caracas.

Opposition deputies, who gathered in the National Assembly building a few blocks away, dismissed the unilateral session as illegal and said they would appeal to the Supreme Court.

The split in the 165-member National Assembly, which followed a brawl between rival deputies on Wednesday, showed that a peace accord signed last week by the government and its foes had done little to defuse their long-running political feud.

The pro-government deputies passed reforms of parliamentary procedure they said would speed up the passage of legislation consolidating Chavez's self-styled left-wing "revolution" in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

"They (the government) have kidnapped the parliament. ... They want to have a parliament that submits to the whims of President Hugo Chavez," Carlos Tablante of the small opposition MAS party told reporters.

Chavez, who survived a coup last year followed by a grueling opposition strike in December and January, accused the opposition of disrupting the National Assembly.

"They don't want to work. They just want to sabotage things," he said in a speech in eastern Venezuela.

The legislation held up by the opposition included government draft laws to counter terrorism and regulate the content of television and radio broadcasting.

Opposition leaders, who charge Chavez is ruling like a dictator and trying to install Cuban-style communism, say these bills contain clauses that seek to muzzle criticism of the government and restrict the right to stage public protests.

Last week's government-opposition agreement, which was brokered by international mediators, recommends the holding of a constitutional referendum on Chavez's rule after Aug. 19, halfway though his current term.

But it sets no precise date and the opposition says it fears Chavez will try to avoid the vote by any means.