New leadership will re-institutionalize Venezuelan Parliament

Caracas, Jan 6 (Prensa Latina) The newly elected leadership of the National Assembly (AN), which remains in contempt, headed by Luis Parra, will reestablish constitutional order in that legislative body, the leader of the Bloque de la Patria bench, Francisco Torrealba, said on Monday.

'With this leadership we will have the opportunity to take the path of re-institutionalization of Parliament and work on the election of the National Electoral Council to provide the people with the conditions necessary for the elections of AN lawmakers,' Torrealba noted.

The new leadership was elected in the absence of opposition leader Juan Guaido, former AN president, which according to Torrealba was an unusual but foreseeable event, as Guaido did not have the votes to be reelected.

He added that it is the first time that an outgoing AN president, who was hoping to be reelected, was absent. 'This action proves the split that exists in the opposition,' Torrealba noted.

He added that the members of the new leadership are representatives of opposition parties; however, they respond to the country's interests and do not take orders from the Government of the United States, thus noting that this Parliament is entering a new stage.

For his part, AN Vice President Franklin Duarte called for dialogue and national unity to solve the economic situation in Venezuela, due to the US economic, financial and commercial blockade.