Chávez to Propose Removing His Term Limits - Political Forum

superdude17* · 08-15-2007, 01:38 PM

Source: NYT

Quote:

CARACAS, Venezuela, Aug. 14 — President Hugo Chávez will unveil a project to change the Constitution on Wednesday that is expected to allow him to be re-elected indefinitely, a move that would enhance his authority to accelerate a socialist-inspired transformation of Venezuelan society.

The removal of term limits for Mr. Chávez, which is at the heart of the proposal, is expected to be accompanied by measures circumscribing the authority of elected governors and mayors, who would be prevented from staying in power indefinitely, according to versions of the project leaked in recent weeks.

Willian Lara, the communications minister, said Mr. Chávez would announce the project before the National Assembly, where all 167 lawmakers support the president. Supporters of Mr. Chávez, who was re-elected last year with some 60 percent of the vote, also control the Supreme Court, the entire federal bureaucracy, public oil and infrastructure companies and every state government but two.

The aim of the overhaul is “to guarantee to the people the largest amount of happiness possible,” Mr. Lara said at a news conference on Tuesday.

The project has already led to fierce debate over Mr. Chávez’s expanding power. Critics in the Roman Catholic Church have been clashing with Mr. Chávez over the re-election proposals, with one cardinal, Rosalio José Castillo Lara, calling him a “paranoid dictator.”

Mr. Chávez’s proposals would centralize his control over political institutions even further, potentially weakening opponents like Manuel Rosales, the governor of Zulia State, who received nearly 40 percent of the vote in presidential elections in December, analysts said. Mr. Chávez’s current term expires in 2012.

“We are entering a new stage implying more intensive state control of society,” said Steve Ellner, a political scientist at Oriente University in eastern Venezuela.

While the proposal to be unveiled by Mr. Chávez may contain surprises, he recently said that “the Venezuelan people should be given the right to keep a president in power as long as they like, whether it be for 5 years, 12 years, 40 years.”

Since Mr. Chávez’s re-election to a third term in December, he has surprised many with the breadth of the changes in his political and economic policies.

He has nationalized telecommunications, electricity and oil companies; forged a single socialist party for his followers; deepened alliances with countries like Cuba and Iran; and sped the distribution of billions of dollars for local governing entities called communal councils.

As Mr. Chávez, 53, settles into his ninth year in power, images of him have become impossible to avoid here. On billboards, posters and murals, he is seen hugging children, embracing old women, chanting slogans and plugging energy-saving Cuban light bulbs into sockets.

Still, Mr. Chávez has faced serious setbacks at home and abroad even as his approval ratings remain relatively strong in Venezuela. His decision forcing a major television network critical of him off the public airwaves triggered student protests across the country in May and June.

And Mr. Chávez’s attempts to create a regional development bank to rival the World Bank have encountered quiet opposition from officials in Brazil. He has also had to abandon plans for a pipeline to transport natural gas across South America after encountering resistance from environmental groups.

Mr. Chávez’s ambitions to remain in power indefinitely run counter to changes in large Latin American democracies since the demise of military governments in the 1980s. Constitutions elsewhere in the region — with the important exception of Cuba, Venezuela’s closest ally — deter presidents from such temptations.

But Mr. Chávez has signaled a desire to be president at least until 2021 as part of a project to reconfigure political power structures in Venezuela. A central feature of this plan is the president’s communal councils.

About 20,000 of the councils are expected to be created this year, with authority over issues like infrastructure and some social welfare projects transferred to them from municipal and state governments. Mr. Chávez’s critics say the councils must remain loyal to his political ideology to receive funding.

The president said one Sunday last month on his television program that the 1999 Constitution, which he fought for after his first election as president in 1998, has become vulnerable to “counterrevolution” and “infiltration” by reactionary elements.

Still, even some politicians within Mr. Chávez’s coalition have expressed concern that his proposals could weaken the authority of regional governments.

Hard-line supporters of Mr. Chávez say the project will win easy approval by the end of the year, though it remains to be seen if it will be subject to national referendum or a vote in the National Assembly.

Cilia Flores, president of the National Assembly, said Tuesday that she expected two to three months of discussion before a vote, which, if taken by lawmakers, would be approved by a “qualified majority.”

I am SHOCKED that he would attempt this blatant power grab, who could have foreseen him doing this??....

I mean, like FDR was president for life, y’know.

Looks like there’s some disagreement about this over in Democrat land.

Hugo Chavez, president for life?

Aegis · 08-15-2007, 02:13 PM

I wonder what the liberals who hate Bush and who support Chavez have to say now?

The guy claims to be a nationalist but he's actually nothing more then a third rate dictator and a clone of Fidel Castro.

superdude17* · 08-15-2007, 02:21 PM

Couldn't agree more Aegis.

The path he took to reach his power has more in common with Adolf Hitler. First gets popularly elected, intimidates his opposition, and secures absolute power.

Brother Oz · 08-15-2007, 06:19 PM

This is no surprise, he's already had parliament (he has a massive majority) vote him a 6 month enabling act.
And he's still supported by a huge amount of people. There are millions of poor people who a)hate the other parties for their incompetence and corruption and general lack of care for the poor, and b)are delighted with their Cuban health care, little brick houses, and literacy classes. They'll support Chavez for a long time yet, until he starts killing them.

superdude17* · 08-15-2007, 11:57 PM

I expect Putin will make similar amendments shortly.

Kazikli Bey · 08-16-2007, 02:11 AM

Oh look, here we go, all the pro-right wing, neo conservatives having a nice dig at Hugo Chavez because he plans to change his constitution.

Even if it was a power grab, you're forgetting one key element, it's only unlimited re-election, which means he has to prove himself time and time again to maintain his position but because he sides himself with Cuba and Iran, you think it's suspiscious and think he's becoming a dictator.

FDR had three terms, cut short because he died in office, he was a great president, he did things, if the Venzualan people have confidence in Chavez, they will re-elect him because they want to, not because their forced to, if Chavez is an idiot, he will get out-voted.

However, since americans tend to look suspisciously on anybody who has left wing sentiments, you blow things out of proportion, you predict the end of the world but if you looked at the plain truth, Chavez hasn't put forward a bill that will keep him there indefinitely, he's put forward a bill which will give the Venezualan people more freedom of choice when choosing their leader.

And superdude, if Putin is so dictatorial and so bad, how come he has the highest approval rating of any world leader?

As I said before, if they are idiots, they will be voted out, that's how democracy works.

superdude17* · 08-16-2007, 02:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kazikli Bey

And superdude, if Putin is so dictatorial and so bad, how come he has the highest approval rating of any world leader?

As I said before, if they are idiots, they will be voted out, that's how democracy works.

Its Russian media. The networks that are funded by the government and have to say what the government tells it to say or else they get booted off the air. That is the way the Russian government works. So, do you expect the polls to be negative?

And what is your source for this?

Kazikli Bey · 08-16-2007, 03:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by superdude17*

Its Russian media. The networks that are funded by the government and have to say what the government tells it to say or else they get booted off the air. That is the way the Russian government works. So, do you expect the polls to be negative?

I'm sorry, my mistake, you were talking of the Soviet Union and not the Russian Federation, I see. Putin's censorship on shows are not the shows that criticise him, the expulsion is of of ethically doubtful material (such as scenes of violence and sex).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Putin (Under the heading 'Second Term')

Also, to counter, do you have any actual proof that Putin is using censorship to stop shows that are critical of him?

Quote:

Originally Posted by superdude17*

And what is your source for this?

My Source? Here, this is my source:

Putin’s approval rating still way up there - New Europe News: #1 The European News Source

And also, according to public opinion surveys conducted by Levada Center, Putin's approval rating is 81% as of June 2007, and the highest of any leader in the world. It started at 31% in August 1999, rose to 80% by November 1999 and never fell below 65% since then.