VENEZUELA: Constituent Assembly Assumes Legislative Powers

(RTTNews) - Venezuela's National Constituent Assembly (ANC) has assumed legislative duties, putting aside the opposition-controlled Parliament, after legislative directors have ignored a summon by the ANC.

In the face of the absence of members of the National Assembly (AN), the ANC, controlled by President Nicolás Maduro's allies, approved a decree through which it took legislative powers.

According to the ANC, the move "aims at ensuring peace, security, sovereignty and the stability of the country's socioeconomic and financial systems."

Delcy Rodríguez, ANC's speaker, deplored the attitude of Parliament's leaders and stated that "after being obliged to come to this ANC to coordinate with the original constituent power, they again resorted to intolerance and by non-recognition."

She added that the Venezuelan opposition's methods "are suicidal because they do not care about the country."

Meanwhile, several representatives from the Democratic Union Roundtable (MUD) expressed their disagreement on Twitter.

"The government does not recognize the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people who elected the National Assembly," said the representative Omar Barboza. Senator Mariana Gomez said that "millions of Venezuelans voted for the National Assembly that today was dissolved by the Constituent Assembly of the dictator Maduro."

Despite criticism from foreign countries and local opposition and allegations about manipulation of votes in the July 30 election, the president of Nicolás Maduro installed the Constituent Assembly a few days later.