Supreme Court voids Venezuela national congress decisions

Venezuela’s Supreme Court has ruled that all decisions made by the National Assembly are null and void until three banned parliament members are removed from office.

"Decisions taken or to be taken by the National Assembly while these citizens are incorporated will be absolutely null," read a statement released by the court on Monday.

Last week, the opposition-held National Assembly ignored a court injunction and swore in the lawmakers, sparking an internal political and legal battle.

In December, the court barred the three opposition lawmakers from taking office after alleged voting irregularities, a move which the opposition dubbed a “judicial coup” aimed at stripping them of their supermajority in the legislative body.

"The logical, sane and democratic step is for the National Assembly's leadership to revoke the swearing-in of these lawmakers," said Socialist Party deputy and former National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello.

"If the National Assembly is in contempt, nobody is going to recognize it," he added.

The assembly was planning to table an amnesty law for jailed activists and discuss announcing a “national emergency" over the country’s economic crisis.

The opposition -- the United Democratic Roundtable -- won a victory over Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s United Socialist Party in the December 6 polls and took control of the National Assembly for the first time since 1999, the year late Hugo Chavez came to power.

The three lawmakers have boosted the number of the opposition seats to 112 out of the total 167 in the legislative body to narrowly pass the threshold for a supermajority that would allow it to restrict the powers of President Maduro, remove Supreme Court judges, appoint key officials such as an independent attorney general and a national comptroller, and even rewrite the constitution.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk