Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez, has been handed a big win over the opposition parties. Venezuela's new electoral authority has rejected a three-million strong petition demanding a referendum to remove Mr Chavez from power. The National Electoral Council says there were serious errors in legal procedural practice and administration in collecting the petition and an unacceptable six-month time lag in handing it over so it is totally invalid. This presents a huge boost and another invaluable political breathing space for President Chavez, who surely gambled the other day by insisting that the council's decision, whatever it was and it was still unknown then, must be respected. Unabashed, the Opposition is vowing to start from scratch and gather yet another petition. The Opposition want to force a referendum to democratically remove President Chavez from power.
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