New assembly expected to convene in Venezuela on Friday

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is expected to install the country's highly controversial constituent assembly on Friday, which will have more power than any other branch of government.

The 545 delegates were elected on Sunday, but because the opposition boycotted the election, most are pro-Maduro. Maduro has already said the assembly will take away constitutional immunity from opposition lawmakers and target Luisa Ortega Diaz, the country's chief prosecutor, by putting the office in a state of emergency and restructuring it; she has already filed a court order to get the assembly's installation stopped, and has ordered prosecutors to investigate allegations of election tampering, The Associated Press reports.

Opposition leaders have called for protests on Friday, and several lawmakers have said they won't step aside quietly. "The only way they'll get us out of here is by killing us," said Freddy Guevara, first vice president of the National Assembly. "They will never have the seat that the people of Venezuela gave us."

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