The Electoral Hall; of the Venezuelan Supreme Court decided today on the composition of the Electoral Commission (CNE), deciding that one of the members of the Commission, Leonardo Pizani, may not participate anymore on any decisions. The decision is a result of the now infamous decision that stopped the consultative referendum that some Chavez supporters had requested days before that referendum was to take place. According to the two to one decision, the presence of Mr. Pizani on the Electoral commission violated three articles of the Venezuelan Constitution, since his presence on the Board of the CNE did not give the trust and transparency required by the Constitution violating the Constitutional right of participation. Pizani had been elected to the CNE by the National Assembly but had presented his resignation about one year ago. His resignation was never formally accepted by the Assembly which prompted him to join the Board of the CNE in October which approved the timetable of the consultative referendum. The decision implies that any decision by the Electoral Board requires unanimity since most of his members have resigned from it and only four of them are left at this time. One of them is a Chavez supporter who objected to the celebration of the referendum despite the fact that the Supreme Court never said the referendum itself was not legal.
The dissenting Justice, said the decision does not protect the legitimate interest of voters and has neutralized the capabilities of one of the branches of power, violating due to a formality, the exercise of fundamental rights of citizen participation expressed through the request by popular initiative of the consultative referendum.
With the earlier injunction, the Electoral Hall simply blocked the possibility of the referendum and at the time prohibited the CNE from holding any election. While that restriction appears to be lifted by this decision, if one member of the Board of the CNE opposes an election he can simply stop it. The Chavez controlled National Assembly is currently selecting the new members of the Board of the CNE, which require for its approval a two-thirds majority of the Deputies. This will require some form of negotiation for a Board to be approved. However, regulations establish that if by a certain date the Assembly ahs been unable to choose a Board, the Supreme Court will undertake that function.
The Devil's Excrement 
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