CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuelan lawmakers allied to President Hugo Chavez named nine new Supreme Court judges on Tuesday, squeezing the vote in before a new parliament that could block the Socialist Party’s picks is formed in January.
Magistrates sympathetic to Chavez already dominate the top court but the retirement of several members could have weakened the government’s grip on it next year because a September election gave opposition politicians more than a third of seats in the National Assembly. A two-thirds super majority is needed to name Supreme Court magistrates.
Judges in the court are elected for a 12 year term. Another group will retire in 2012, the same year as Chavez runs for re-election as president.
Critics accuse the government of giving too much power to Chavez who they say has weakened democracy with excessive influence over the courts and justice system. He denies the accusations, saying he seeks to repair the legacy of corrupt governments that preceded him.
