MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has submitted a draft constitution for consideration to the country's newly elected Constituent Assembly.
"Today, as I have promised, I want to hand over my draft constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the Constituent Assembly," Maduro said on Thursday as quoted by the VTV broadcaster.
The Constituent Assembly, elected on July 30, is a legislative body which has the power to amend Venezuela's constitution. The election of the assembly took place amid mass, deadly protests across the country. Venezuelan opposition, as well as the European Union and the United States, have refused to recognize the body's legitimacy.
The current constitution of Venezuela was drafted in late 1990s by the Constitution Assembly convened through a popular referendum by then-President Hugo Chavez.