Government about to lose super majority in parliament

Venezuela opponents wary of Chávez decree powers

Venezuelan opposition leaders said they feared President Hugo Chávez would use decree powers he has requested to override an electoral setback that stripped him of a super-majority in parliament.

Chávez said on Friday he would seek the fast-track powers from the National Assembly for the fourth time in his controversial 11-year rule due to a flooding crisis caused by heavy rains that left more than 120,000 people homeless in the South American nation.

The move also appeared to be an attempt to strengthen his hand before a new parliament convenes on Jan. 5 with a stronger opposition presence.

Chávez did not say how long the decree powers would last, but opponents fear he will request them for a period extending well into the new parliament and to legislate in areas not limited to dealing with the flooding crisis.

"The president clearly intends to affect or weaken the power of the lawmakers who are going to enter parliament on January 5," Juan José Molina, a lawmaker with opposition party Podemos, said.

An opposition coalition made big advances in a September legislative election and hopes to put a brake on Chávez's self-styled "21st century socialism" when it takes up 40 percent of the seats in the new National Assembly.

The current legislature is dominated by Chávez's Socialist party and has the two-thirds majority needed to pass even major legislation without consulting opponents. It also has the three-fifths majority needed to give the president decree powers.

After Jan. 5, the Socialists will have only a simple majority, limiting them to passing minor legislation without opposition support. Opponents -- who say Chávez is imposing Cuban-style communism on the OPEC member nation -- have long worried he will rush through laws in the outgoing parliament's final days.

Chávez supporters in the assembly have held extended sessions this week to pass laws promoting socialism that also weaken mayors and governors. A bill to take some profits from banks and another to regulate the Internet are also pending.

Molina said Chávez would be justified in using the decree powers to speed up relief efforts in response to the flooding.

"But I don't think he will limit himself to that. The way he governs is to act incisively toward adversaries and he can take advantage of an opportunity such as this."

Another politician opposed to Chávez, Cipriano Heredia of the Brave People Alliance, said the current parliament did not have the right to delegate its powers to the president past Jan. 5.

"For this reason ... this will only last for the three weeks that are left until the new National Assembly is formed," he told Venezuelan newspaper El Universal.

Chávez has already shown a willingness to undermine opponents who weaken him in elections. After his candidate lost an election for Caracas mayor in 2008, the president stripped the winner of powers and named a mayor-like figure above him.