Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro handed over at least 15 wide-ranging powers to Vice President Tareck El Aissami — a move that sparked speculation over Maduro’s succession plans, according to reports Tuesday.

The vice president’s office in Venezuela has mostly been powerless since Maduro took over as the country’s head after former President Hugo Chávez died in 2013. El Aissami, who was appointed as vice president by Maduro earlier this month, can now issue economic orders that would affect everything from taxes to foreign currency allotments for government-run companies, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing Venezuela’s official gazette.

El Aissami now also has powers to appoint deputy ministers, sign orders on expropriation, let off strategic companies from value added taxes and be held accountable for the distribution of funds between ministries.

According to the Venezuelan law, a president’s powers are transferred to a vice president, if the former resigns after completing half of the current term.

On Jan. 9, the parliament announced that Maduro abandoned his post due to dereliction of duty. However, Diosdado Cabello — the vice president of Maduro’s Socialist Party — refuted the claims saying that the embattled president would neither resign, nor “recognize a disobedient legislature.”

According to a March 2016 poll conducted by Datanalisis, about two-thirds of Venezuelans want Maduro out of office. He has tried to improve the country’s ailing economy in recent months by fighting hyperinflation with 50 percent minimum wage hike.

The steep drop in global oil prices since mid-2014 has aggravated Venezuela’s economic crisis. Several Venezuelans have been forced to wait in long queues for rationed goods, including everything from flour to medicines.

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