Venezuelan MPs Sworn Into Office Amid Election Fraud Allegations

Venezuela's opposition sworn into office three of MPs accused of election fraud, despite the nation's Supreme Court ruling to complete the "super-majority" they need to push for change in the government.

A report from BBC revealed the move that utterly defied the decision of Venezuela's Supreme Court in order to call for a referendum that would determine whether or not President Nicolas Maduro would be allowed to stay in power.

"The three extra deputies boost the total number of opposition seats in the legislature to a two-thirds 'supermajority' that could enable them to remove Maduro by constitutional means," a report from AFP cited Yahoo News analyzed.

According to the report, the move granted the opposition control over the assembly since 1999, the year when former president and Maduro's hero, Hugo Chavez, was ousted.

This move comes during the first few weeks after newly-elected speaker and member of the MUD coalition Henry Ramos Allup took office, cementing his intention to pursue change in the government within six months.

While he did not specify the particular means on how such change would be accomplished, he promised that they would "change the government by constitutional means."

However, former assembly speaker Diosdado Cabello and the Venezuelan president's second-in-command deemed such a move as something that "flagrantly violated the constitution."

President Maduro himself also responded with a strong statement, saying: "I will be there to defend democracy with an iron hand. They will not make me give ground or waver."

Despite this, the opposition remains stern in their goal to promote radical change in the government.

"We can't wait for the presidential elections in 2019, political change in Venezuela has a date and it's the first semester of 2016," opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez wrote in a letter in November while he was being incarcerated for incitement of violence.

This makes their goal clear: the opposition will be pushing for Maduro's removal before his term ends in 2019.

Constitution expert Juan Manuel Rafalli sees all this commotion as something that would incite "great social conflict and enormous pressure for change."

In the BBC report, the outlet explained that a recall referendum can only be made if the president has already served half of his term, which began on April 19, 2013.

This means a referendum can only be made after April 19 this year.

It is also imperative that 20 percent of all registered voters signed a petition to trigger such a huge political move.

A successful referendum would mean an election should be held within 30 days to select a new president, who would finish Maduro's term that is set to end in April 2019.