Venezuela opposition leader accepts delayed presidential inauguration

Venezuela’s opposition leader Henrique Capriles has accepted a Supreme Court ruling that allows President Hugo Chavez to postpone his scheduled inauguration.

Capriles, who was defeated in the October 2012 presidential election, said on Wednesday that the unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court “is binding.”

“Now the ruling has been handed down. There is an interpretation by the Supreme Court.”

He challenged Vice President Nicolas Maduro to resolve the problem facing the country and said, “The excuses are over, Mr. Maduro. Now it falls to you to assume the responsibility of the office and to govern.”

On Wednesday, the Venezuelan Supreme Court said Chavez could legally delay inauguration, scheduled for Thursday, as the current government remains in power.

“The oath-taking of the re-elected president can be carried out at a time after January 10 before the Supreme Court if it is not done on the said day before the National Assembly,” the court ruling said.

The ruling comes as government officials pointed out the constitution allows the court to swear in a new president without a time limitation for a leave of absence, which the congress voted for on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Marco Aurelio Garcia, the foreign policy advisor to the Brazilian president, said on Tuesday that on behalf of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Brazil supports the postponing of the inaugural ceremony.

Chavez, who first came to power in 1999, was re-elected to a new six-year term in October. However, a month before the planned inauguration he underwent a fourth round of cancer surgery in Cuba’s capital Havana.