Venezuelan government calls for a new Constitution

CARACAS - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday announced the creation of a constituent assembly to draft a new Constitution to break a political deadlock that has brought the country to a standstill.

"It is time, it is the way (forward) and they have left me no choice," Maduro said during a May Day rally in Caracas, referring to the right-wing opposition and successive anti-government protests that have gotten increasingly violent.

"I call on the original constituent power to achieve the peace the country needs, to defeat the fascist coup and to have the sovereign people impose peace, harmony and true national dialogue," Maduro said.

The three-part process would begin with a popular referendum to gauge whether drafting a new constitution has sufficient backing among the electorate.

If it does, then "approximately 500 constituent assembly members" would have to be elected to draft the new laws, Maduro said.

The constituent assembly can dissolve public powers and call general elections, echoing a previous assembly created by his predecessor Hugo Chavez in 1999.

Finally, a referendum would be held to approve the contents of the new document.

Maduro said he has designated a presidential commission headed by Education Minister Elias Jaua Milano to follow through on the procedure.

"This will be a citizens assembly made up of workers," Maduro said. "The day has come, brothers. Don't fail me now. Don't fail Chavez and don't fail your motherland."

According to messages posted on the Twitter account of the right-wing opposition coalition, known by its acronym MUD, opponents of the government received the news with suspicion, branding it an attempt to seize power through "constitutional fraud."

National Assembly President Julio Borges on Monday urged Venezuelans to continue fighting and blocking streets with more protests.

"This is a scam to deceive the Venezuelan people with a mechanism that is nothing more than a coup," Borges said.

The ruling party and the right-wing opposition have been locked in a bitter power struggle that has obstructed governing and led to violent anti-government protests, leaving at least 29 people dead last month.

Maduro accused the opposition of conspiring to overthrow him and undermine the country's struggling economy.