Chavez foes condemn court decision
2013-01-10 12:40
Caracas, Venezuela - Venezuela's Supreme Court chief on Wednesday endorsed
putting off President Hugo Chavez's inauguration, siding with the government in
a heated dispute with the opposition while the ailing leader struggles with
complications a month after cancer surgery in Cuba.
Supreme Court President Luisa Estella
Morales made the statement after the opposition urged the top court to rule
that the government was violating the constitution by delaying the swearing-in
for a new term, which had been scheduled for Thursday.
Lawmakers voted on Tuesday to delay the ceremony, allowing Chavez to take
the oath of office at an unspecified later date before the Supreme Court.
Morales also said the Supreme Court
hasn't considered appointing a panel of doctors, as opposition politicians have
demanded, to evaluate whether Chavez is fit to remain in office after remaining
out of public view since before his 11 December operation.
Opposition
Her announcement seemed to pre-empt any
opposition attempt to challenge the postponed inauguration. She announced the
decision in response to a case brought by a single lawyer, and said the
inauguration can be performed before the Supreme Court, at a time and place to
be determined.
"We know it's necessary, and
undoubtedly the inauguration is going to be carried out, but at this time we
can't anticipate when," Morales told reporters at a news conference.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles
condemned the Supreme Court's endorsement of delaying the inauguration.
"Institutions should not respond to the interests of a government,"
he said at a news conference.
The case that prompted the decision was
brought not by the opposition but by a private lawyer, Marelys D'Arpino, a
columnist for the pro-Chavez newspaper Vea. D'Arpino told The Associated Press
that she decided to file the case last month because "it was necessary to
straighten out" the matter before the court.
Information lacking
The constitutional debate takes place
against a backdrop of complaints that the government isn't giving complete
information about the condition of Chavez, who hasn't spoken publicly since his
fourth cancer-related surgery in Cuba four weeks ago.
"It's very evident that he isn't
governing, and what they want us to believe is that he's governing, and they're
lying," opposition leader Ramon Guillermo Aveledo told the television
channel Globovision.
He insisted that the National Assembly president should take over
temporarily as interim leader and that the Supreme Court should appoint a panel
of doctors to determine Chavez's condition.
It was unclear how the opposition would
respond to Morales' statement.
Venezuela's constitution says the oath of
office should be taken before lawmakers in the National Assembly on 10 January.
But the charter adds that if he is unable to be sworn in by the National Assembly,
the president may take the oath before the Supreme Court, without explicitly
stating a date.
Opponents maintain that even if the oath is taken before the Supreme Court,
it should be on 10 January.
Legal
The opposition has argued that the only
legal way to postpone the ceremony is for congress to approve a "temporary
absence" for the president, leaving the head of the National Assembly as
interim president for 90 days, a period that could be extended for an
additional 90 days.
But Morales said that as of now,
"there is not even a temporary absence".
Vice President Nicolas Maduro broke the
news that Chavez would not be able to attend the scheduled inauguration in a
letter to National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, which he announced he
had received on Tuesday.
The government called for the socialist
president's supporters to gather for a demonstration at the presidential palace
on Thursday, and said that some foreign leaders were coming to visit. Bolivian
President Evo Morales and Uruguayan President Jose Mujica confirmed they will
attend.
Chavez said before his operation that if
he were unable to continue on as president, Maduro should take his place and
run in an election to replace him. Speculation that his illness might be
entering its final stages grew on Tuesday when the proposal for a postponement
came in a letter signed by Maduro, not Chavez.
Stable
The government said earlier this week
that Chavez was in a "stable situation" receiving treatment due to a
severe respiratory infection. The government has said he is coping with
"respiratory deficiency," but hasn't said how severe it is.
The stances of the government and the Supreme
Court have been criticised by legal scholars such as Vicente Gonzalez de la
Vega, a law professor at Central University of Venezuela, who said the Supreme
Court has effectively consummated a sort of "coup d'etat".
"How can it say that the president
isn't absent and he's in his duties when he can't even sign a letter?"
Gonzalez said.
Francisco Madrid, a businessman and
opposition supporter, called the Supreme Court's decision "shameful".
"It's proof that all branches of the
state respond to the government's interests," Madrid said while walking in
downtown Caracas. He also complained that while the government is focused on
such issues, there are shortages of foods such as sugar, chicken and flour.
- AP
