Venezuela to vote on Chavez term
Venezuela is to hold a referendum next month on whether to remove limits on re-electing presidents, officials said.
The vote is set for 15 February, and if passed, would allow President Hugo Chavez to run for office again.
The announcement comes a day after MPs backed a constitutional amendment brought by Mr Chavez’s supporters.
A plan to lift term limits was defeated by the Venezuelan people last year. The BBC’s correspondent in Caracas says the issue has sharply divided the nation.
Student protests
Announcing the date of the referendum, the head of Venezuela’s electoral council, Tibisay Lucena, said the poll would be “clean, transparent and reliable”.
Mr Chavez - who was first elected president in 1998 - has argued he needs another 10 years in office to consolidate what he calls his socialist revolution.
The opposition says the entire process is unconstitutional and amounts to a power grab by Mr Chavez.
In the past few days, students from the private universities have mobilised a number of protests against the referendum, which by and large have passed off peacefully, the BBC’s Will Grant in Caracas says.
Neither side wants a repeat of the violence which marred the last referendum campaign, in which a number of protesters were killed, our correspondent says.
Related posts: O.j. mayo, Gaza clashes spark ‘major crisis’, 7 pounds movie trailer, Clinton portis, Eurosport
[…] teaspoon balsamic vinegar (you can use lemon juice or even a cider vinegar)stepsRelated posts: Venezuela to vote on Chavez term, Mary kate and ashley clothing line, The forgotten, United postal service tracking, Chicago sun […]
Pingback by Game in the RingJalapeno poppers - — February 1, 2009 @ 12:32 pm