CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) – Venezuela’s opposition-majority National Assembly discussed on Tuesday (June 13) a selection process to choose new judges for the Supreme Court, amidst criticism that the country’s highest judicial body is biased toward President Nicholas Maduro.
In 2015, the then government-majority National Assembly elected judges to the Supreme Court. Now, the opposition says that it has the constitutional power to set a new panel of judges.
The move follows a controversial March ruling from the Supreme Court that ruled the opposition-backed National Assembly be dissolved and its powers be transferred to the court. The decision drew national and international condemnation, resulting in its reversal.
The debate in the Assembly comes amidst a rising death toll from anti-government protests across the country. Nearly 70 people have been killed in some two months of demonstrations calling for early elections.
Maduro has accused the opposition of seeking a United States-backed coup in the country. Instead he has called for the establishment of a constituent body with powers to change the constitution. Critics see the move as a way for the embattled president to firm his grip on power by stacking it with supporters.
Chief Prosecutor and former Maduro ally Luisa Ortega expressed support for a replacement of Supreme Court judges to preserve the rule of law in Venezuela.
Ortega last week launched a challenge in the Supreme Court against Maduro’s constituent assembly. Although overruled, she has since launched another challenge that the 13 judges of the Supreme Court be replaced, alongside moves in the National Assembly.
