Venezuelan supreme court rules presidential impeachment unconstitutional

Venezuela's Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) on Tuesday ruled the impeachment attempts against President Nicolas Maduro unconstitutional, dealing another blow to the opposition-controlled National Assembly.

However, President of the National Assembly Henry Ramos Allup, in his Twitter, rejected the court's ruling as "absolutely invalid."

The TSJ said in a statement it accepted a motion by the country's Attorney General Reinaldo Munoz, requesting steps be taken to "prevent the legislature from violating the Constitution."

The court instructed lawmakers "to abstain from continuing the unconstitutional, baseless and nonexistent 'impeachment' against" Maduro.

In an emergency session on Oct. 25, the assembly decided to launch impeachment proceedings against Maduro for alleged crimes, including "laying ruin to the country's economic and social foundations."

The Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), a coalition of conservative parties which holds an overwhelming majority in Venezuela's legislature, had been looking to oust Maduro by organizing a presidential recall referendum.

But their signature-collecting drive fell short of the required popular backing, according to the National Electoral Council(CNE), whose decision was then validated by the court.

Following several legal setbacks, the MUD accused the TSJ and the CNE of being controlled by the ruling socialist PSUV party.

In addition, the TSJ has since July considered the assembly to be in contempt, after three deputies barred from taking office due to election irregularities, were nevertheless sworn in, presumably to bolster the MUD's absolute majority of 112 seats.

As a result, any decisions by the assembly have been considered "invalid and legally baseless," including the adoption of any laws.

On Tuesday, however, the MUD announced the three deputies would renounce their seats to overturn the contempt decision. Endi