Venezuelan official party to call referendum extending Chavez in office

Caracas, Venezuela, 30 November, 2008. Today, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez asked the governing party, PSUV, to initiate the constitutional procedures to call for a referendum extending his term in office after 2012.

According to the Venezuelan constitution, the President, the parliament and the people have the right to call for a referendum. After defeat over the constitutional reform submitted last December, President Chavez could not personally initiate the referendum procedure on the same issue again. However, the local election results obtained last Sunday, has allowed Chavez to ask the PSUV to start collecting signatures for the Referendum. This announcement will dismay opposition cadres that despite winning places in Caracas, Zulia. Carabobo and Tachira states confronted a drop in popularity nationwide.

More news to come

Sources: VTV, YVKE,