The president, elected in 2013, has faced months of protests for presiding over a debilitating economic crisis that has seen high inflation rate and shortages of food and other basic amenities. Pineda was the second candidate to be murdered after the July 10 death of another, Jose Luis Rivas, as he was campaigning in the northern city of Maracay. According to its decree, the National Constituent Assembly will be installed within 72 hours after the proclamation of the constituents. "In 1999, the first decrees and constitutional acts of the National Constituent Assembly were on regulating the functions of the Congress [Venezuelan bicameral parliament, reformed in 1999], because there were two collegiate bodies at the time, the Constituent Assembly and the Congress, as well as on reviewing the prosecution.
A least nine people have been killed in the last 24 hours, including Constituent Assembly candidate Jose Felix Pineda, and Accion Democratica Party youth secretary Ricardo Campos.