Chavez closer to referendum plan

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/americas/7791479.stm

Version 0 of 1.

Venezuela has given preliminary approval for a vote on constitutional changes that would allow President Hugo Chavez to seek indefinite re-election.

The parliament is expected to give the final go-ahead for a referendum on the issue in a second debate next month.

Chavez supporters have presented a petition to National Assembly officials which, they said, carried millions of signatures backing the proposal.

A plan to lift term limits was defeated by the Venezuelan people last year.

Allies

Thousands of the president's supporters formed a chain outside the assembly building in Caracas down which they passed box after box of signatures backing the proposal.

In total, the government says, almost five million people have signed the petition.

President Chavez says he is sure he can muster enough support this timeMr Chavez can propose holding a referendum to the electoral authority if he collects 2.5 million signatures supporting it, or if the request is supported by 30% of Congress.

The signatures, however, carry no legal weight as the decision on whether to pass the motion is taken by the assembly, which is largely controlled by allies of Mr Chavez.

Mr Chavez, who recently marked 10 years since his first election as president, is seeking reforms that would let him stand again when his latest term ends in 2012.

Re-election would keep him in power until 2019, but the president has said he hopes to stay in office until 2021.

Mustering support

A second and final parliamentary debate is expected to be held next month.

Approval would mean the proposed constitutional amendments would then go to a national vote, which the president hopes to hold in February.

It will not be the first time the Venezuelan people have voted on the question of the president's indefinite re-election.

It was rejected in a referendum last year - but Mr Chavez says he is sure he can muster the support this time.

The BBC's Will Grant in Caracas says the president's "yes" campaign is already up and running.

However opposition parties say the president's re-election proposals are "anti-democratic, unconstitutional and against the national interest".

The opposition and in particular many of the country's students are gearing themselves up for a repeat of last year's campaign on the issue our correspondent says.

Under the existing law in Venezuela, a president is elected for 6 years, and can only be re-elected once.