Caracas: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he will set up camp in a tent given to him by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi so he can free up space in the presidential palace for more homeless storm victims.

Chavez raised the idea of moving his office to the tent Friday, telling aides on state television: "Put up the tent that Gadhafi gave me."

He said it could be erected in the gardens at the Miraflores Palace, and added: "Set it up for me because I'm moving into that tent."

Chavez has already taken in 26 families who lost homes in recent heavy rains, putting them up in the quarters of the presidential guard.

He told one of his Cabinet ministers during a visit to a disaster shelter that aides should start preparing one of his offices in the palace to house evacuees. "We can stick some beds there, and there's a bathroom," he said.

Chavez has been overseeing relief efforts after flooding and landslides that have killed 38 people and driven thousands from their homes.

Gadhafi used one of his signature Bedouin tents when he visited Venezuela last year for a summit meeting, setting up camp next to the hotel pool and receiving Chavez and other guests.

Decree powers

President Hugo Chavez also said he will ask his congressional allies to again grant him special powers to enact laws by decree.

Chavez said he needs an "enabling law" for the fourth time in his presidency to pass emergency laws quickly in a range of areas, including housing, land use and banking.

"There is no time to lose," Chavez said on state television, citing the country's emergency efforts to help thousands of people displaced by deadly floods and mudslides.

Chavez's request comes shortly before the Jan. 5 installation of a new National Assembly in which a bigger opposition presence will prevent him from obtaining the two-thirds majority he would need to obtain such decree powers.

In his nearly 12 years in office, the leftist leader has been granted temporary decree powers three times by lawmakers - in 1999, 2001 and 2007.

The last time, he enjoyed special legislative powers for 18 months and used them to seize control of privately run oil fields, impose new taxes and nationalize telecommunications, electricity and cement companies.

It was unclear how long the decree powers could last this time.

The National Assembly has been dominated by Chavez supporters since the opposition boycotted 2005 elections. The opposition gained ground in September elections, and starting in January Chavez will face 66 opponents among the 165 lawmakers in congress.

Chavez said that he would make his formal request in writing to the National Assembly "in the coming hours" and that he planned to be decreeing laws through the holidays.

Government opponents accuse Chavez of growing increasingly authoritarian and criticize his allies in congress as being stooges who rubber-stamp whatever he proposes. Some critics had predicted Chavez would attempt to rule by decree again to attempt to neutralize the checks on his power that newly elected opposition lawmakers have vowed to impose.

Chavez said he is ready for a barrage of criticism.

"I'm sure that ... the cannons will sound from all over the place, from the bourgeoisie, its television stations," said Chavez, who has also stepped up his threats recently against Globovision, the last Venezuelan television channel that criticizes the government.