Opposition fights Chavez' 'unconstitutional' powers

A Venezuelan opposition party leader has submitted a request to the Supreme Court to annul a law giving President Hugo Chavez special powers.

Antonio Ledezma, president of the Brave People’s Alliance, and lawyer Angel Mendoza Figueroa, submitted their petition to the court after the so-called “enabling law,” which authorises Chavez to enact laws in 11 broad sectors from the economy to the judicial system, officially took effect on Thursday.

The 18-month law “gives extraordinary powers to the president without justification,” Ledezma said in a statement, questioning how congress can be allowed to cede such an important function as making laws to a single person.

“The concept of the decentralisation of powers ends. Here there is no longer any separation of public powers,” Ledezma said. Ledezma, who is a lawyer, said the constitution allows for “enabling law” to be passed under extraordinary circumstances. “What extraordinary situation are we living in this country so that congress renounces for 18 months its function of legislating,”