April 1999 Venezuelan constitutional referendum

In the 1998 presidential election campaign Chávez campaigned on replacing the legal system. A National Constituent Assembly would be elected and have powers to draft a new constitution within six months. Once the Assembly was installed, its members would be required to discuss the new structure, principles and articles of the future constitution with all sectors of society. Once the text was approved, revised article by article, the National Constituent Assembly would deliver the draft constitution to the national executive, which would be responsible for convening by decree a second referendum to approve the new constitution.^{[citation needed]}

Although Chávez had promised to seek the support of the opposition-dominated Congress before starting the process, on his first day as president he called for a referendum to determine whether a new constitution should be drafted using a method he had proposed.^[2] According to statements made at the time by the head of the Movement for Socialism parliamentary group, Chávez's main ally in Congress, apparently even they had not been informed of this step beforehand.^[3] Once again, the opposition was caught divided:^[4] Copei, Justice First and former presidential candidate Irene Sáez, who had just formed an alliance with the Chavistas in the Nueva Esparta state, supported the decree,^[3][5] while Henrique Salas Römer's Project Venezuela and Democratic Action (AD) criticized the manner in which Chávez was leading the process, arguing that it excluded Congress.^[3] Radical Cause and National Convergence were cautious as they did not know the details of the proposals.^[3] Only the Movimiento Apertura of former President Carlos Andrés Pérez was completely opposed to the measure.^[3]

The process promoted by Chávez was not set forth in the 1961 constitution, but two favorable decisions of the Supreme Court of Justice in January 1999 paved the way for this proposal. The Supreme Court even ratified Chávez's opinion that since the Constituent Power was an "original power", it should not be subject to the powers established in the current constitution.^[6] The National Electoral Council (CNE) gave its approval after reviewing the proposals and the referendum was set for 25 April. Henry Ramos Allup of Democratic Action criticized then the behavior of the bodies, saying that they presented an "obsequious attitude" towards the president.^[3]

The referendum was held under a climate of electoral apathy, with voter turnout lower than 40%. The result was overwhelmingly in favor of the proposals, which were both approved by margins of over 80%; convening a new National Constituent Assembly was approved by 88% of voters,^[7] while the bases proposed by Chávez and revised by the CNE were also approved with 82% in favour.^[8]

Question I

"Do you convene a National Constituent Assembly with the purpose of transforming the State and creating a new legal system that allows the functioning of a Social and Participatory Democracy?"

Question II

"Do you agree with the bases proposed by the National Executive for the convocation of the National Constituent Assembly, examined and modified by the National Electoral Council in session dated March 24, 1999 and published in its full text, in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Venezuela No. 36.669 dated March, 25 of 1999?"

• 1999 Venezuelan Constituent Assembly election
• 1999 Constituent National Assembly of Venezuela
• December 1999 Venezuelan constitutional referendum