NATIONAL ASSEMBLY STARTS NEW SESSION, REELECTS MOST OF ITS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000013 SIPDIS NOFORN HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD DEPARTMENT PASS TO AID/OTI AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL LEIPZIG AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN PASS TO AMEMBASSY GRENADA AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PASS TO AMCONSUL QUEBEC AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PASS TO AMCONSUL RECIFE E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/07 TAGS: PGOV KDEM VE SUBJECT: NATIONAL ASSEMBLY STARTS NEW SESSION, REELECTS MOST OF ITS CHAVISTA LEADERSHIP CLASSIFIED BY: Robin D. Meyer, Political Counselor, DOS, POL; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (C) Summary: The Chavista-dominated National Assembly (AN) opened its new session January 5 with the selection of its three-member executive board and the administrative secretary and sub-secretary positions. President Cilia Flores and First Vice-President Jose Albornoz retained their respective positions, while outspoken PSUV Deputy Dario Vivas replaced Saul Ortega as second vice-president. Media rumors speculate that Ortega may be tapped to be Minister of Finance. The reelection of two of the three members is probably meant to maintain legislative continuity in the months leading up to the September 2010 AN elections. The negotiations over AN leadership positions, however, have highlighted fissures in the alliance between the PSUV and the tiny pro-Chavez Patria Para Todos (PPT) and Venezuelan Communist Party (PCV). Ortega publicly suggested that the AN should focus on passing legislation - including bills related to the Supreme Court (TSJ) and the controversial Labor Law - in the first trimester of the year before the flurry of electoral campaigning gets fully underway. End Summary. -------------- PSUV GETS WHAT IT WANTS -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In accordance with the law, the AN opens its new session each year on January 5 with the selection of its executive board ("junta directiva"),which is comprised of a president, first vice-president, and second vice-president. Ivan Zerpa and Victor Clark, who are not legislators, were reconfirmed as secretary and sub-secretary - administrative positions that are selected at the same time as the board. The governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) had nominated Flores, Vivas, and Albornoz to their positions, while the opposition Podemos party proposed fellow opposition Deputies Pastora Medina, Pedro Bastidas, and Hermes Garcia as president, first vice-president, and second vice-president. ¶3. (SBU) Cilia Flores announced January 5 that the AN "would intensify the social lawmaking of the street with communities, with the goal of approving social norms. We have not forgotten that obligation, and this year, we will achieve our legislative agenda of laws proposed by the people's organizations." Flores added that Chavismo was gearing up for the upcoming legislative elections, pledging that "we are going to maintain our two-thirds majority of the AN." Saul Ortega said the same day that the AN has a "package of laws that have to be defined," and said that they should be approved in the first trimester of 2010 because of the mounting pressure of AN elections. He listed the priorities as the reform of the Organic Labor Law, and bills related to social security, popular power, and the Supreme Court (TSJ). PSUV Deputy Carlos Escarra suggested January 6 that Ortega was not re-nominated because he may be tapped by President Chavez for a Cabinet-level position. Media rumors the same day speculated that Ortega may be in line to head the Ministry of Finance. -------------- - WRANGLING WITHIN PSUV ALLIANCE -------------- - ¶4. (C) Albornoz announced in late December 2009 that he would not run again for the second vice-presidency of the AN, apparently to express his pro-Chavez Patria Para Todos (PPT) party's frustration CARACAS 00000013 002 OF 002 over the PSUV's unwillingness to incorporate the PPT into its electoral strategy. As a small party, PPT would be hard-pressed to retain its five AN seats under the new electoral rules which greatly disadvantage minority parties unless it made an electoral pact with the majority PSUV. Albornoz had declined to comment on specifics of the party negotiations, but noted December 26 that "the problem of an alliance lies with the PSUV, it is not in the hands of either the PCV or the PPT. We have always worked for unity, we have always maintained the scheme of the left, but also we have said that it is not essential to be in the parliament to do politics." ¶5. (C) According to local press, PPT debated for seven hours the night prior to the January 5 vote over whether Albornoz would run again for the AN second vice-presidency - reportedly because he claimed that he wanted to spend more time campaigning for his reelection to the AN. (Comment: Albornoz is from the PPT stronghold of sparsely-populated Guarico State, and would presumably face little viable competition given his high profile as a member of the 2009 AN executive board. Relative to the United States, many Venezuelan AN Deputies do not have a tradition of maintaining close personal contact with their constituents. End Comment.) ¶6. (C) Secretary General of the Venezuelan Communist Party (PCV) Oscar Figuera announced January 4 that he supported the continuity of the 2009 executive board for the new year, as well as the leadership of the 15 legislative permanent committees. Nevertheless, he complained that the PCV had not been invited to PSUV discussions on the AN elections, adding that he made the public criticism because "there is no space for collective discussion in politics." On January 6, local press reported that Figuera had been removed from the head of the AN's Permanent Committee on Social Affairs and replaced with PSUV Deputy Rafael Rios, at the direction of Cilia Flores. (Comment: Figuera had criticized the proposed Labor Law on several occasions, and may have been seen as an obstacle to the passage of Chavez's vision for the bill. End Comment.) Figuera announced publicly the same day that his ouster "could be seen in public opinion, including among PCV militants, as a political message that [the PCV] has been excluded from the AN... and from the government alliance." Nevertheless, he lauded Rios' purported expertise on health and allowed that the appointment was to place emphasis on legislation relating to social security and health. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (C) Flores' reelection to a third term as president suggests that she remains a trusted ally of Chavez, and will continue to act as a primary conduit of information between Miraflores and the AN. Flores is the wife of Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro, the Cabinet member with the longest tenure in his current position. The future of the tiny PCV and PPT parties, which have five and three seats respectively in the 167-seat AN, remains uncertain. End Comment. DUDDY