On Tuesday, January 5, as provided for by the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the new National Assembly was seated and its members, elected by the Venezuelan people in the December 6 parliamentary elections, were sworn in for the 2021-2026 term.
For the first year of the new Parliament administration, the Bloque de la Patria (Bloc of the Homeland), led by deputy Diosdado Cabello, proposed Jorge Rodríguez as president, Iris Varela as vice president and Didalco Bolivar as second vice president, who were elected by majority vote.
Rosalba Gil and Inti Hinojosa were also elected as secretary and deputy secretary of the Legislative Power.
In his first speech as president of the Venezuelan Parliament, Deputy Rodríguez thanked the men and women who took an oath before the new Bolivarian National Assembly and recalled they have been seated in the Parliament to foster the country’s political reconciliation, without oblivion and impunity.
“We are facing crimes aimed to obliterate our territory and people,” he stressed.
The National Assembly president-elect urged the new lawmakers to restore everything that was damaged by the betrayal, hatred and violence of the outgoing deputies.
“Brothers and sisters, I tell you with no rhetorical spirit, we cannot fail. This time we must succeed. This time we must restore what they damaged. We need to restored what was destroyed,” said Rodríguez.
Deputy Diosdado Cabello pointed out that the task they will undertake will be a difficult one, because “we must give life to this Assembly. It will be difficult because the National Assembly does not exist in the collective imagination. The outgoing board of directors let it die, and it is up to us, as a team, to undertake the task as revolutionaries for the changes we were called for,” he said.
Cabello asserted the new deputies must be proud, “because a new historical period is starting to make people understand the duty of each State institution, and the duty of this National Assembly.”
The leader of the Bloque de la Patria welcomed the elected opposition deputies to the debate of the National Assembly. “I am certain that they will legislate with us, the majority, for the people. That’s our goal today.”
The new National Assembly takes up its duties after the legal term of the outgoing Parliament, elected in 2015 for five years, expired.