The president of Venezuela was recently scolded by the head of Congress on national television.

Fox News Latino revealed that President Nicolas Maduro initially declared an economic emergency due to inflation and growth figures which he deemed catastrophic. Afterwards, he had to face criticism from Henry Ramos, the leader of the new opposition Congress. Ramos wagged his finger just inches from the president’s head during a rebuttal for all to see.

It was the first time in 17 years that the administration was overcome by its foes. Maduro and his predecessor, the late President Hugo Chavez, never had to deal with hostile viewers during their state-of-the-nation speeches.

Hours before, the Central Bank revealed that economy went down while inflation moved up to triple digits, leading Maduro to call the situation catastrophic. Maduro declared an economic emergency, allowing him to unilaterally enact sweeping reforms within 60 days.

After Maduro explained for three hours, Ramos said President Maduro was himself the cause of the crisis.

“If you don’t’ want to hear this, close your ears or leave. If you give in to the desire to have more and more bolivars with the same number of dollars, your bolivars are going to lose value,” Ramos told Maduro on national TV, in a report by ABC News.

Maduro called for a dialogue and warned the opposition how it may get overconfident and lose the following election. He promised to stop giving people who live in government housing their respective home titles. Maduro said that he will not permit such a project, saying that they will have to get rid of him. The opposition responded by calling a recall election within six months.

US News cited that Venezuela’s economy has suffered greatly with the price of oil dropping from over $90 per barrel in 2014 to only $24 at present. Oil accounts for 95 percent of its export income.