Weekly Report - 15 January 2009 (ISSN 1741-7422)

The national assembly voted on 14 January in favour of a referendum to amend the constitution to allow continuous re-election for all elected posts, including that of the presidency. The national electoral council (CNE) now has 30 days in which to convene the referendum: 15 February is the most likely date. The text of the referendum approved in the second and final vote in the assembly differed from the text in the first vote on 18 December after President Hugo Chávez proposed that governors, mayors, councillors, and national and regional legislators, should also be able to seek continuous re-election - not just the President.