Venezuelan Supreme Court nullifies decisions of Opposition National Assembly

Venezuela’s Supreme Court has ordered the country’s new opposition congress to unseat three barred lawmakers and is declaring that any action the body takes in the meantime is null. When Venezuela celebrated its version of April Fools Day at the end of December, a popular blog posted a joke article under the headline, “Supreme Court pre-overturns all incoming National Assembly acts as unconstitutional”.

The Supreme Court in December blocked four lawmakers – three from the opposition and one allied with the government – from taking office after the Socialist Party alleged irregularities during last month’s vote for a new congress.

“Decisions taken or to be taken by the National Assembly while these citizens are incorporated will be absolutely null”, read a statement released by the court on Monday. “Therefore, without the banned lawmakers (and a further Socialist Party lawmaker suspended for the same reasons) the MUD would still have held a two-thirds supermajority – 109 out of 163 instead of 112 out of 167 – allowing it to make sweeping changes, including calling a recall referendum on President Nicolas Maduro and overhauling the constitution”. The super-majority would also give the opposition more leverage over economic policy in a country that is now facing the world’s highest inflation rate and a severe economic contraction.

Wading into the institutional standoff, the secretary general of the Organisation of American States, Luis Almagro, called for the balance of powers in Venezuela to be respected, “especially… when the people have spoken” – a reference to MUD’s landmark election win. The study found the court never issued any rulings against the Venezuelan government.

The court ordered that the three lawmakers in question not be seated until allegations of elections fraud had been addressed.

Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) used an extraordinary session in the final hours of its legislative majority to push through the judges’ appointment, a move the opposition condemned as undemocratic.

“I doubt that they actually will, because we know how enormously arrogant the new leaders of the National Assembly are; they are full of hate, bitterness and a desire for revenge”, he said.

The court ruling came as MUD lawmakers introduced a bill on one of their top legislative initiatives, an amnesty for 75 jailed opposition figures they say are political prisoners.

The president of the National Assembly, Henry Ramos Allup, attends a session in Caracas on Tuesday.