Venezuela's constitutional reform referendum fails to pass
From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!
Monday, December 3, 2007
- 23 September 2009: Carter: US "likely behind" Venezuela coup
- 29 July 2009: Colombia's relations with Venezuela deteriorate over Swedish rockets
- 11 June 2009: Venezuela bans Coke Zero over unspecified health problems
- 2 June 2009: Venezuela's president nationalizes more private companies
- 19 April 2009: Six-year-old boy on vacation in Venezuela dies in plane crash
Image: Wilson Dias/ABr.
Venezuelan voters rejected a referendum on changes to the constitution. The chief of the National Electoral Council said it was rejected by a margin of 51% to 49%.
The referendum vote on sweeping reforms to the constitution would have allowed Hugo Chávez to run for reelection indefinitely, control Venezuela's foreign currency reserves, appoint loyalists over regional elected officials and expand presidential powers in the case of an emergency. It would also have established a maximum six-hour working day and 36-hour working week, cut the voting age from 18 to 16, and expand social security benefits to workers in the informal economy.
Chávez called the vote a "photo finish," but swiftly conceded defeat. He vowed to "continue in the battle to build socialism" and though the reforms had failed "for now," they were "still alive." The vote marks the first setback at the ballot box for Chávez, since he came to power in 1999.
Raul Baduel, a former defense minister in Venezuela, now an emerging critic of the leader, said Chávez had manipulated the public's feelings in an effort to pass the reforms, which would also have limited citizens' rights were a state of emergency to be declared.
Sources
- Brian Wagner "Venezuela Rejects Constitutional Changes". Egenas, December 3, 2007
- Saul Hudson "Venezuelans reject Chavez's bid for new powers". Reuters, December 3, 2007
- "Chavez defeated over reform vote". BBC News Online, December 3, 2007
 Share this: |
 |
This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators. Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections. Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age. |
