Several days ago Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez introduced a number of constitutional changes. Headlines like “Chavez eyes power for life as he rips up constitution” and “Chavez Seeks New Constitution to Abolish Term Limits” were indicative of how the foreign media focused squarely on Chavez suggestion to remove presidential term limits. Even Venezuelan opposition politicians zeroed in mostly on that aspect of Chavez’ speech:
“Justice First opposition party leader Julio Borges dismissed Chavez's reforms as a thinly veiled attempt to advance his "continuous re-election, re-election for life, permanent re-election."
However, Chavez’ other planned reforms may be more controversial and more significant for the country than the term limits proposal. They affect the lives of everyday Venezuelans and could have serious socioeconomic consequences to the country;
- Instituting a maximum six hour workday
- The government would have greater power to expropriate private companies
- Less federalism against local governments
It will up to the Venezuelans themselves to approve the constitutional reforms via a planned national referendum.
Sources- Scotsman, Bloomberg, Reuters
Image- Canada.com
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