Venezuela Chavez Seeks Fast-Track To Reelection

Chavez wants to govern for at least another decade, but the constitution requires him to stand down at the end of 2013.

Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez said on Friday he will fast-track a proposal to allow him to run for reelection, making a referendum on the issue likely early next year.

Chavez, who won office 10 years ago, says he wants to govern for at least another decade, but the constitution requires him to stand down at the end of his current term in 2013.

The former paratrooper wants a vote on changing the constitutional rules to be held in February, but the process of calling a referendum can take some time.

"We have decided that the National Assembly will take the initiative," Chavez said during a meeting with party officials broadcast on state television.

By seeking congressional approval to hold the referendum, Chavez could avoid a drawn out process of collecting signatures from 15 percent of the electorate. Venezuela's Congress is dominated by his allies.

Chavez has already tried to change the constitution to allow him to run again, but his proposal was narrowly rejected in a referendum in December last year.

His plans to hang on to power may have been complicated further by elections last month in which his opponents gained political momentum by winning six top posts that govern almost half of the population, including the capital city Caracas.