“From my point of view, there is no possibility for the reform to be voted on in parts. The only possibility is the approval of at least one third of the members of the National Assembly, but I heard that they share my view: that it should be voted on as a single block, because otherwise it would lose its meaning and essence.”
The quoted phrase was uttered by late President Hugo Chávez. It was part of a speech delivered on August 25, 2007 in Caracas and responded to “some sectors of the opposition [that] propose to vote on [the reform] in parts.” The Head of State stressed at the time that “the Constitution says how the voting should be in each case, and when it could be voted in parts.”
However, everything changed. And there was the Supreme Court to endorse it. The first modification on the draft reform included 69 articles (33 originally proposed by Chávez plus 36 added by the National Assembly). Also, in order to try to seduce the majority, the ruling party changed its strategy and decided to split the proposal into two blocks.
In September 2007, the director of the National Electoral Council Vicente Díaz and Primero Justicia party leaders requested the Constitutional Court to interpret Article 344 of the Constitution, which reads: “The referendum shall decide on the reform, but up to a third of it may be voted on separately, if approved by a number not less than one third of the National Assembly or if it was so requested by the President of the Republic or by no fewer than five percent of the registered voters in the Civil and Electoral Roll.”
Justice Luisa Estella Morales was responsible for drafting the response, which was issued on November 6, 2007, four days after the legislature – dominated by Chavez’s supporters – decided to split the vote into two blocks. “The National Assembly may agree (with the approval of more than two thirds of its members) on the partial vote on the draft constitutional reform at the time of approval, even in cases where the initiative has not come from the National Assembly but a group of voters or the President of the Republic in Council of Ministers,” explained Morales.
Similarly, the Supreme Court ruled that “the partial vote on the draft may be requested only by the petitioner at the time of submission to the National Assembly if it is a draft constitutional reform initiated by a group of voters or the President of the Republic in Council of Ministers.”
Justice Pedro Rondón Haaz expressed his disagreement as he believes that his colleagues should have “established that the request for a split vote may be made by any of those who propose the reform, at the time of submitting their proposal or by any other entitled petitioner.” That is, he criticised that the deputies had a monopoly of this process, excluding citizens.
For his part, Justice Jesús Eduardo Cabrera objected the fact that deputies were allowed to restructure the draft reform, as chavista deputies did.” The National Assembly (…) is merely a controller of the proposal, but it may not add or change anything on the draft, because to do so would be distorting the will of the proponents; and that is why Articles 342 through 346 of the Constitution do not provide that the Assembly may make modifications, additions or other changes to drafts under discussion,” argued Cabrera.
Having the support of the judiciary, the Parliament was able to manipulate at will the articles of the draft reform, in order to make it more appealing to voters. Thus, it mixed in the same block the controversial term limits with the reduction of working hours, the institutionalisation of the ‘missions’ and the creation of “Social Stability Fund for Self-Employed Workers.” Despite this move, the country’s majority rejected the initiative on December 2, 2007.
Extract of the judgment
The partial vote on the draft may only be requested by the petitioner at the time of submission to the National Assembly if it is a draft constitutional reform on the initiative of a group of voters or the President of the Republic in Council Ministers. The National Assembly may agree (with the approval of more than two thirds of its members) the partial vote on the draft constitutional reform at the time of approval, even in cases where the initiative did not come from the Assembly, but a group of voters or the President of the Republic in Council of Ministers. The National Assembly, at the request for partial voting on the text of the reform, shall establish which part of the draft will be subject to partial vote».