Spanish
Caracas.- The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, who was sworn in for a third term after his questioned re-election in July of last year, said this Sunday that he will deliver the constitutional reform project next January when the 2026-2031 period of the National Assembly (AN, Parliament) begins.
"I have spoken with the constitutional reform commission and we have agreed to prepare a more inclusive, more open, more dialoguing, and longer consultation and debate process, to deliver the constitutional reform project to the new National Assembly in January," the president said after voting in the regional and legislative elections in Caracas.
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Last February, Maduro gave 90 days to a commission headed by the Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, to debate and elaborate a definitive project to reform the Constitution, in force since 1999.
During an extraordinary session of the Legislative, Maduro then urged the "inclusive national commission" to carry out a "broad debate" with the different sectors and listen to "the whole country", in order to elaborate a "beautiful and perfect" proposal that would be presented "definitively" within 90 days, which expired this month of May.
Maduro explained at that moment that he plans to include "widely" the "communal power", for a total of "four instances of power", in addition to national, regional and municipal, as well as to build a new society "on the basis of the principles of peace".
The current Constitution, drafted by a Constituent Assembly convened by referendum by Hugo Chávez (1999-2013), was approved, after a consultation, on December 15, 1999, with 71% of the votes in favor, on a day marked by high abstention and a natural disaster in the north of the country.
On July 30, 2017, amidst controversial elections, a National Constituent Assembly (ANC) was elected that did not draft a new Constitution nor reform the current one, despite that being its purpose when formed, but rather took over the functions of the then official Legislative branch - which had an opposition majority - until December 2020, when it was dissolved, as Chavismo regained control of the Parliament.
