Venezuela's attorney general calls for referendum on new constitution

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Venezuela's Attorney General Luisa Ortega said on Friday that President Nicolas Maduro should call a referendum to determine if the people support a new constitution.

"If the executive wants to take this step, he should call a consultative referendum to ask (the Venezuelans) if they want the Constituent (Assembly), which will draft the new text," Ortega was quoted by the private TV station Globovision as saying.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a meeting with workers in Caruachi, Venezuela on July 6, 2017. /VCG Photo

On May 1, Maduro announced the creation of a National Constituent Assembly (ANC), which was immediately rejected by the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD). The MUD has called the process unconstitutional without a referendum, but this has been denied by the Supreme Court.

Ortega maintained that the constitutional process organized by the government seeks to "hide the true problems of the country" and "annihilate participatory democracy."

Bolivian National Guard members clash with Venezuelan opposition, during a protest against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela on July 6, 2017. /VCG Photo

"They want to achieve this ANC with diminished popular support," said the attorney general. She said she would continue "to fight to re-establish the constitutional order" and was convinced that the overwhelming majority of Venezuelans would support this fight.

In recent days, Ortega filed a petition with the Supreme Court to cancel the ANC, which was rejected.

However, the MUD has called a referendum on July 16 for Venezuelans to express themselves on the matter, although the electoral body dismissed it as having "no legal basis."

A political and economic crisis in the oil-producing country has spawned often violent demonstrations by protesters demanding Maduro's resignation and new elections. The unrest has left more than 90 people dead since April 1.

(Source: Xinhua)