2016/2017: The National Assembly Passed Four Laws to Remove Maduro Which the Supreme Court Blocked

In 2015, opponents of the government of President Nicolas Maduro won a majority of seats in the National Assembly. The new President of  the National Assembly promised to remove Maduro from the Presidency within six months.

On April 20,2016 the National Assembly passed a constitutional amendment in first discussion to cut short the terms of mayors, governors and the President. A special clause rendered the changes retroactive, cutting short President Maduro’s 2013-2019 term in office. The proposal needed to have final approval by the National Assembly and approval by a popular vote within 30 days. If the electorate approved the reform, the legislation would force a presidential election to choose Maduro’s successor before December 12, 2016[1]. On April 25, the Supreme Court ruled that the special retroactive clause was unconstitutional citing Article 24 of the Constitution’s “absolute non-retroactivity” of all laws [2].

On December 13,2016 the Assembly opened an impeachment proceeding against Maduro. The Assembly passed a resolution calling on the Public Prosecutor’s Office to “request an impeachment trial" against the President from the Supreme Court [4] On January 7, 2017 the Supreme Court ruled that the National Assembly “has no power to remove the President.”[5] There is no provision for impeachment in the Constitution.

On October 23,2016 the National Assembly approved an” Agreement for the Restitution of the Constitutional Order” citing what it termed the “probable dual nationality of the President”.  Lawmakers claimed they could show that Maduro is a dual-citizen, with Columbia, and should be ineligible for the Presidency [7] His opponents claimed that Maduro, whose mother is Columbian, was born in the Columbian border town of Cucuta. On October 28, the Supreme Court confirmed that President Maduro was not a Columbian National and that “incontrovertible evidence proves with absolute certainty that he was born in the city of Caracas" [6]

According to Article 233 of the Constitution, if there is an absolute absence of the President in the first half of the Presidential term, elections must be held within the next 30 days. On January 8, 2017, the NA approved a resolution declaring that Maduro had “abandoned his post” redefining “abandonment” as “not just about physical absence but rather also a lack of constitutionality." On January 30, 2017 the Supreme Court released a statement confirming that there were no constitutional grounds for Maduro’s removal from office saying that: “President Maduro has not been absent nor separated in any moment from the exercise of his post which is a public, well-known and indisputable fact.”[3]


1.Venezuelan Parliament Goes on Offensive to Oust Maduro, Venezuelanalysis, April 22,2016.

2. Venezuelan Supreme Court: Amendment Shortening Presidential Term Not Retroactive, Venezuelanalysis, April 26,2016.

3.Venezuelan Supreme Court: The President Has not Abandoned His Post, Venezuelanalysis, January 31, 2017

4.Venezuelan opposition Relaunches “Political Trial” against President Maduro, Venezuelanalysis, December 14, 2016.

5.ALBA ciudad, Supreme Court ruling: the National Assembly “has no power to remove the President of the Republic,” January 9, 2017.

6. Venezuelan Supreme Court: Maduro is not Colombian, Venezuelanalysis, November 1, 2016.

7. Washington Post, Venezuela’s politics are a mess: And now there’s a birther movement, October 26,2016.

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