2007: President Chavez Lost an Election to Amend the Constitution

On August 15, 2007, President Chavez proposed amending 33 articles of Venezuela’s 350-article 1999 Constitution. The proposed constitutional reforms were needed, according to Chavez, to complete the transition to a “socialist republic.” [4] To reform the Constitution, Venezuela’s constitutional procedures require three debates before the National Assembly. The first two debates were held on August 21 and September 11, 2007. The third debate was on October 25, 2007 and the National Assembly approved the proposal, enlarged from 33 articles to 69. Final parliamentary approval for the referendum was given on November 2, 2007.

The National Assembly sent the proposed amendments to the Electoral Council to arrange for a national referendum. The Electoral Council set December 2, 2007 for the National Referendum. The CNE divided the 69 amendments into two packets (A&B) for voting. The CNE arranged for four televised debates and distributed ten million copies of the proposed reforms.

The proposed changes included: Abolish presidential term limits, increase the presidential term to seven years, allow the President to set up Federal Districts to bypass States, allow the President to declare unlimited National Emergencies, reduce the work week from 44 to 36 hours, lower the voting age from 18 to 16, ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, allow removal of Supreme Court judges with a simple majority vote in the National Assembly, remove the autonomy of the Central Bank  One amendment would modify the Constitution to recognize a new type of collective property.[1] Although private property rights would still exist, the Opposition conducted a media campaign asserting that the government would be able to take people’s homes [3]

The Electoral Council announced that voter turnout was low at 56%. (It had been 74% for the Presidential Election in 2006). Packet A lost with 50.65% “No” votes and Packet B lost with 51.01% “No” votes. [2]  

High abstention by Chavez’s traditional supporters was seen as the major cause of the loss. The Referendum was complicated with little time for discussion resulting in confused voters staying home.[3]

On election night, President Chavez conceded that the reform proposal had lost “for now” saying “I congratulate my adversaries for this victory.” It was the first time in nine years, after winning twelve nation-wide elections, that Chavez had lost an election.[2]

Chavez’s acceptance of defeat was seen as proof that he was not a dictator: “Chavez’s detractors have claimed he is a dictator, but he proved his democratic credentials by accepting an electoral defeat. Dictators don’t accept defeats.” [5]

  

1.     Wilpert, G, Venezuela’s Constitutional Reform: An Article-by-Article Summary, Venezuelanalysis, 11/23//2007.,

2.     Wilpert, G, Chavez: Defeat in Venezuelan Constitutional Reform is “For Now”, Venezuelanalysis, 12/3/2007.

3.     Carlson, C, Pro-Chavez Leaders Examine Reasons for Venezuelan Referendum Loss, Venezuelanalysis, 12/7/2007.

4.     BBC, Q&A: Venezuela’s Referendum, November 30, 2007.

5.     New York Times, Venezuela Vote Sets Roadblocks on Chavez Path, December 4, 2007.

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