Venezuela's Parliament Approves Communal Councils Law Reform

The Venezuelan National Assembly (AN) has approved, by qualified majority, the Organic Bill for the Reform of the Organic Law of the Communal Councils. The minority opposition bench voted against the approval of this law. The law, passed this Thursday, June 22, was sent to President Nicolás Maduro for its approval, in accordance with Article 213 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

In this regard, Jorge Rodríguez, the president of the AN, congratulated the deputies who were in charge of the consultation process to carry out the reform of the law, as well as the spokespersons of the Communal Councils—who recently renewed their spokespersonship—as “they now have a fundamental instrument” that has been “renewed and adapted to the new times of the Bolivarian Revolution,” he stated.

#22Jun || Queda Aprobada por Mayoría Calificada y sancionado el Proyecto de Ley Orgánica de Reforma de la Ley Orgánica de los Consejos Comunales. pic.twitter.com/q5r6baDFJV
— Asamblea Nacional 🇻🇪 (@Asamblea_Ven) June 22, 2023

Communal Councils present at the National Assembly
Rodríguez highlighted the presence of spokespersons of 19 communes from Caracas, La Guaira, and Miranda state. Among them, included the communes Antonio José de Sucre, Renacer de Vista Alegre, and Simón Bolívar, as special guests accompanying the discussion of the bill.

Deputy Willy Medina, of the ruling PSUV party, said that the reform is the product of ten thousand public consultations at the national level, through assemblies in the communal territories and electronically as well, which generated more than eight thousand proposals, considered to adapt the law to current times.

“The first law of the Communal Councils was approved in 2006, and three years later the people demanded changes that led to its first reform in 2009, which gave it an organic character,” Medina stated, quoted by the AN’s website. “Today, 13 years later, we meet again with the communal people and, with their experiences, we adjust the parameters of this law of the Communal Councils.”

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The purpose of the new legal instrument is to regulate, constitute, confirm, and organize the operation of the Communal Councils as a territorial entity and an instance of communal government, which guarantees the participation of the communities in public policies and their development.

Background
The reform project of this legal instrument was approved in its first discussion by a qualified majority, during the ordinary session of November 27, 2022, and consists of 58 articles.

During the session, Deputy Rodolfo Crespo asked the parliament to commit to returning power to the people with the approval of this instrument, and emphasized that it is part of the legacy of Commander Hugo Chávez. With the approval of the Organic Law of the Communal Councils in 2006, reformed in 2009, the assembly nature of the communal councils, communes and other instances of Popular Power is fortified.

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During the first discussion in the plenary, there was also talk of giving legal character to the electronic registry of the Communal Councils in order to eliminate intermediaries and to shield the systematization of the electoral processes of such bodies. The current law lacks the process of renewal of the Communal Councils, which would have a separate chapter in this reform. This deficiency generated delays because there were no rules to call for the election of the spokesperson once the term of office had expired.

An additional change is that it is planned to change the term “leadership of the Ministry of Communes” to “accompaniment of the Ministry of Communes” in order to reinforce the autonomy of decision making within the Communal Councils.

(RedRadioVE) by Victoria Torres, with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JRE/AU