What we do and don't know about Venezuela's new assembly

CARACAS: Venezuela's Constituent Assembly – whose legitimacy is disputed by the opposition and abroad – starts work Thursday, with wide-ranging powers and an indefinite mandate under President Nicolas Maduro.
What we know
The Constituent Assembly will on Thursday take over the parliamentary chamber hitherto occupied by the opposition-controlled congress, the National Assembly.
One of its key members, ex-foreign minister Delcy Rodriguez, told AFP that both assemblies might operate in the same building, with the National Assembly in the chamber of deputies and the Constituent Assembly in an elliptical chamber.
That remains to be seen, however. The opposition has called a protest in Caracas on Thursday against the "fraudulent" Constituent Assembly.
The Constituent Assembly has powers to dissolve the National Assembly if it deems fit. Its principal task is to rewrite the constitution, which Maduro has said will solve the economic and political problems of the country.
According to the electoral authority, more than 40% of the 20-million-strong electorate voted last Sunday in the election appointing the 545-member Constituent Assembly.
However, a British firm that supplied the voting technology, Smartmatic, said that official turnout figure was inflated – "tampered with" – by at least one million voters.
The National Electoral Council denies that, dismissing it as the firm's baseless "opinion."
The United States, European Union and a dozen Latin American countries have said they do not recognize the new assembly. Washington has directly sanctioned Maduro, calling him a "dictator."
Of the 545 member of the new assembly, two-thirds were selected from municipal areas, and the remainder from societal and industrial sectors.
All are Maduro loyalists – and among them are his wife and son – because the opposition refused to field any candidates.
The opposition fears the new body will be a rubber-stamp entity for Maduro to rule with autocracy.
The president has promised to submit the future draft constitution to a referendum. In the meantime, the Constituent Assembly has executive and legislative heft overriding any other institution.
What we don't know
It's unknown how long the Constituent Assembly will be in session. Its members will have to decide.
If it dissolves the National Assembly or gets rid of the attorney general's office, as has been threatened, Maduro wants parliamentary immunity to be lifted from opposition lawmakers, who he alleges have incited violence in protests.
He has called for a "truth commission" to prosecute the "crimes" of the conservative opposition, but it's not clear whether the new assembly will pursue that path.
The attorney general, Luisa Ortega, has been a thorn in Maduro's side for four months. She was loyal to his late predecessor, Hugo Chavez, but says Maduro is undermining the constitution and rule of law in Venezuela with the Constituent Assembly.
She says the new body has no legitimacy and is purely part of a "dictatorial ambition" on the part of the president.
If the overdue state elections are to be held, they would likely depend on the decisions of the Constituent Assembly.
The opposition has warned that presidential elections due in 2018 could also be thrown into limbo.
That could suit Maduro, whose support is around 20% according to surveys by the polling firm Datanalisis.
It is also unknown what measures the Constituent Assembly could bring in to lift Venezuela out of its crisis.
The political scene is deeply polarized, with little prospect so far of negotiations.
And the economy is in ruins, with inflation spiraling above 700% this year, monthly salaries counted in the equivalent of tens of dollars, hunger becoming prevalent as food becomes more scarce, medicine almost impossible to find and currency reserves fast running out. — AFP