Maduro assumes office ignoring rules in the Constitution

Following the death of President Hugo Chavez, his vice president, Nicolas Maduro announced he will take over temporarily until the presidential elections, which must take place within 30 days.

Vice president Nicolas Maduro (left) and head of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Diosdado Cabello.

Local media say that it is a violation of the provisions of Article 233 of the Venezuelan Constitution, which expressly states that in the case of absence of the president, the President of the National Assembly, a position currently exercised by Diosdado Cabello, should temporarily assume the government and that official elections must be held within 30 days.

It should be noted that Chavez, before leaving for Cuba on last December 8 over his advanced cancer, said: “if a situation that disables me to take office as president presents, Maduro not only in this situation should end, as the Constitution mandates, the term, but also my firm opinion, like the full moon, irrevocable, absolute, total, is that in that scenario, it will be forced, as mandated by the Constitution, new presidential elections, and you must choose Nicolas Maduro as your new president. ”

Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro

After the death of Chavez, Cabello, one of his closest allies and fleeting interim president after the coup of 2002, should be in charge of Venezuela until elections are called for, but it appears for now that the mandate will be in Maduro’s hands.

Moreover, the opposition, led by Henrique Capriles called for “unity” to the people and urged the government to respect its “constitutional duty” after the death of Chavez.