Venezuela:Under a new constitution being considered in Venezuela, the workday would be slashed from eight hours to six, so workers would have sufficient time for "personal development". But while Venezuelans might have more leisure time, the constitution would also ensure that President Hugo Chávez could toil far into the future.
One of the most controversial proposals in the charter would abolish presidential term limits, giving the 53-year-old populist the opportunity to remain in office indefinitely. The presidential term would also be extended from six to seven years.
Venezuela's National Assembly, stacked with Chávez supporters, approved the proposals in the new charter one by one last week and is set to make a final endorsement of the document today. A referendum is expected to be held on December 2nd to allow voters to approve or reject it.
A wide variety of critics, from the Catholic Church to opposition leaders, say the 69 proposals in the charter give even more power to a leader who already controls the legislature, the courts, the state oil company and, increasingly, the mass media. Opposition leaders also accuse the government of trying to ram the constitution through with little public debate.
On Tuesday, a prominent business chamber, Consecomercio, called on the president to withdraw the proposed charter. And First Justice, an opposition party with no representation in the legislature, publicly criticised the changes in front of the National Assembly after seeking unsuccessfully to join a procedural debate.
"What this proposal does is further divide the country," Julio Borges, director of First Justice, told reporters.
The government counters that the amendments were amply deliberated. Three rounds of debate took place in the 167-member National Assembly, whose members have been allied with the president since opposition politicians boycotted parliamentary elections in 2005.
Luis Vicente Leon, a pollster for Datanalisis, a Caracas firm, said that the public is equally divided among supporters, opponents and the undecided. But he also said it would be hard to stop Chávez.