Posted on 08/27/2003 2:34:01 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
CARACAS - Venezuela's Supreme Court has achieved the remarkable feat of uniting supporters and opponents of President Hugo Chávez in praise of its choice of members for the new national electoral council. The council now faces the delicate task of organizing a possible recall referendum against Chávez.
The appointment of the five-member council, unveiled by the court late Monday, had been held up for months by a deadlock in the legislative National Assembly between the pro-Chávez majority and the opposition.
''We are confident this is the best decision,'' Chávez said Tuesday as he called on all sides to respect the court decision. ``Without a good referee with a good whistle, the game cannot be concluded.''
As recently as two weeks ago, members of Chávez's Fifth Republic Movement were threatening a boycott of the Supreme Court's decision to intervene in the appointment. ''No [electoral council] appointed by the Supreme Court will have the confidence of the people,'' Nicolás Maduro, a leading pro-Chávez congressman, said then.
The change of heart appeared to reflect assurances by the court that the composition of the council would not favor the opposition.
But the government nevertheless scheduled a parliamentary debate Monday on a controversial bill to reform the Supreme Court. Pro-Chávez members of the assembly had previously threatened to use the bill as a means of keeping the Supreme Court judges in line.
In any event, the key fifth member of the electoral board -- a chairman who will have the tie-breaking vote between two avowedly pro-government members and two from the opposition -- is to be Judge Francisco Carrasquero, a moderate who supports Chávez.
The appointment of the electoral board -- which begins its work today -- removes the biggest obstacle to a recall referendum.
Mr. Chávez's government has not offered explicit support for a referendum. But under the Constitution, a referendum can be convened halfway through his six-year term, a point reached last Tuesday.
In his drive to remake Venezuela, Mr. Chávez rewrote the Constitution and packed Congress and other institutions with his allies. The Supreme Court, several of whose members were handpicked by the interior minister, was considered as beholden as any.
The government's adversaries, who had already failed to overthrow Mr. Chávez in a coup last year, had as recently as January dismissed the Supreme Court as just another puppet of the leftist president.
But after a two-month national strike failed to oust Mr. Chávez, the court has the last option.
To hold the referendum, the court must select five electoral board officials who would verify the validity of 3.2 million signatures, collected by the president's adversaries, that demand his ouster.
If the signatures are authenticated, the board would then organize a referendum for as early as the end of November. Polls indicate that two-thirds of Venezuelans may vote to remove Mr. Chávez.
Despite the government's past control of the court, the justices have shown themselves to be unpredictable in recent months.
Last August, the court angered Mr. Chávez by absolving four military officers accused of having taken part in the April 11, 2001, coup against him. Yet, earlier this year, the court also ordered striking state oil employees back to work.
"The court has shown it can make a decision that corresponds with the interests of the nation," said Ernesto Alvarenga, a former ally of Mr. Chávez who helped oversee the composition of the court.
Even after a board is chosen, legal hurdles remain. Many political experts expect that signatures calling for a referendum, which were collected months ago, will be ruled invalid.
But María Corina Machado, director of the group that collected them, said the group was prepared to collect them again. "We know there are millions of obstacles," she said. [End]
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