Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2010
Encyclopedia
The 2010 parliamentary election in Venezuela
took place on 26 September 2010 to elect the 165 deputies to the National Assembly
. Venezuelan opposition parties, which had boycotted the previous election
, thus allowing the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela
(PSUV) to gain a two-thirds supermajority, participated in the election through the Coalition for Democratic Unity (MUD). Nationally, the popular vote was split equally between PSUV and MUD, but PSUV won a majority of the first-past-the-post
seats and consequently retained a substantial majority in the Assembly, although falling short of the two-thirds majority mark.
Of the 165 deputies, 110 were constituency representatives elected on a first-past-the-post
, the system in 87 electoral districts, 52 elected on a party list system (two or three deputies per state of Venezuela
, depending on population), and 3 seats were reserved for indigenous peoples, with separate rules. Additionally, 12 representatives were chosen for the Latin American Parliament
.
There was initially a dispute between alliances that participated in the election as to which alliance received a plurality of votes. Long-term international electoral observers were not invited to observe the election in any technical capacity. Instead, each coalition was allowed to invite 30 foreign officials to observe the elections.
in the 2000
and the 2005
were conducted under a weak mixed member proportional system, with 60% elected in first-past-the-post
voting districts and the remainder by closed party list proportional representation
. This was an adaptation of the system previously used for the Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies
, which had been introduced in 1993, with a 50-50 balance between voting districts and party lists, and deputies per state proportional to population, but with a minimum of three deputies per state.
For the 2010 election, the Ley Orgánica de Procesos Electorales (LOPE) (Basic law of electoral process) among other changes reduced the party list proportion to 30%. In addition, the law completely separated the district vote and the party list votes, creating a mixed member majoritarian system. Previously, parties winning nominal district seats had had these subtracted from the total won under the proportional party list, which had encouraged parties to game the system by creating separate parties for the party list. Under the new law, in 2009, electoral districts were redefined
in a way that has been accused of favouring the PSUV, particularly in giving more weight to votes in the countryside over those in the city.
Four domestic NGOs registered 624 observers each. Unlike the election in 2005, major independent election observing organisations such as the Organization of American States
, the European Union
and the Carter Center
were not invited to observe this election in a technical capacity. Guests from those bodies allowed to observe the final days of the election were not given the technical observation role they had been given in the past. Instead, each alliance participating in the election was permitted to bring "up to 30 witnesses from abroad." Around 150 international observers were accredited by the CNE, including from the United Nations
, the Organization of American States
, the African Union
, the European Union
by the end of August. The European Union noted in a press release that "the Venezuelan National Electoral Council accredited more than 200 international guests to accompany the day of the election. No long-term international electoral observation missions participated." Foreign observers were warned in a full-page newspaper advertisement "not to interfere with the nation's internal affairs." An opposition spokesman said that "If observers were allowed to watch the campaign, they would have seen the abuse of power and of public resources and public media." The government's Roy Chaderton
said that foreign observers were present and that comments like this from the opposition were "part of the media terrorism they like to practice".
The CNE monitors political advertisements during campaigns, and reported that for a 3-day period at the end of August, opposition ads made up 75.4% of the airtime given to such ads, across the five main channels Venevisión
, Televen
, Globovisión
, Tves
and Venezolana de Televisión
. Over half the total opposition ad time of around 80 minutes was on Globovisión
. President Hugo Chavez
' weekly television program Aló Presidente
was suspended during the election campaign (which officially began 25 August, one month before the election), until 3 October. A reporter for The Economist
claimed that media controlled by the government gave "blanket coverage to the PSUV’s campaign and token, hostile interviews to opposition candidates".
In early September, one member of the five-person CNE, the pro-opposition councillor Vicente Díaz, publicly accused Chavez of breaking campaign laws by using state-run television to "berate rivals and praise friends" during the election campaign. Chavez denied breaking the law, and said that Diaz could be prosecuted for making false accusations. Díaz requested the CNE open administrative proceedings, but after extensive internal discussion the CNE declined, and Díaz publicly "recognised Chavez’s right to political expression as a citizen and also as president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela." The opposition electoral coalition, Coalition for Democratic Unity (MUD) rejected the CNE decision, and said it illustrated CNE's lack of independence and willingness to justify violation of electoral rules.
by the June deadline. Around 17.5 million of the country's 28.5 million population are eligible to vote. The ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela
(PSUV), with around 7 million members, is by far the largest party in the country by membership.
planned a congress of 772 members representing the country's 759 municipalities. These members were elected by the members of the party in an election held on 15 November 2009. At this congress, beginning on 21 November 2009 and ending in March 2010, members were to debate each weekend over the new standards of the party, in which are included voting and selection method for the upcoming parliamentary elections. Primary election
s were held on 2 May 2010, with over 2.5 million party members choosing over 3500 nominees for the 110 constituency representatives, in 87 electoral districts. Nominees for the PSUV party lists were announced later that month.
, unexpectedly withdrawing just before election day, despite a dispute over the voting process apparently having been resolved with the support of the Organization of American States
(OAS). Eleven deputies subsequently defected to the opposition or declared themselves independent.
In June 2009, it was reported that the opposition parties were planning to create the Mesa de la Unidad Democrática
(Coalition for Democratic Unity, MUD) a coalition that would include all of the opposition parties which might select unique candidates for the upcoming elections. A previous opposition umbrella group, the Coordinadora Democrática
, had collapsed after the failure of the 2004 recall referendum.
By April 2010, the MUD included around 50 political parties, of which 16 were national in scope and the rest regional, and received support from some other social organisations and opinion groups. The main parties included in MUD are the traditional Democratic Action
and COPEI
(which held power from 1958 to 1998); the left groups Movement for Socialism
, Radical Cause
and Red Flag Party
; and more recently established parties A New Era
, Justice First
and For Social Democracy
("PODEMOS"). In April the MUD held primaries in 15 electoral districts, with 361,000 voters participating, and selecting 22 candidates (the remaining 143 candidates were chosen "by consensus"). The candidates chosen included Maria Corina Machado
(of Sumate
) and Manuel Rosales
, the opposition's candidate in the 2006 presidential election
and now in exile in Peru (due to corruption charges, which he denies). In addition, a number of the nine police officials imprisoned for participating in the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt, regarded by the MUD as political prisoners, were also nominated, in districts with a real chance of opposition success; winning would require their release due to parliamentary immunity
.
The MUD is supported by the Movimiento 2D
opposition movement led by El Nacional
editor and proprietor Miguel Henrique Otero.
editor and proprietor Miguel Henrique Otero, leader of the opposition movement Movimiento 2D
, said that "The editorial reasoning behind the photo was to create a shock so that people could in some way react to a situation that the government has done absolutely nothing about." The incident brought further international attention to the issue of Venezuela's crime rates (having already received widespread attention as a leading issue of public concern), and was followed by a New York Times article claiming Venezuela's murder rate was higher than that of Iraq, although the comparison used Iraq Body Count's numbers derived from media reports rather than the World Health Organization
's survey-based estimates, which are three times higher. The article mentioned the recent creation of the Bolivarian National Police, and Experimental Security University
, but omitted the government's claim that as a result of these and other measures, Venezuela's homicide rate had fallen 18% in three months in the first half of 2010. A September 2010 poll conducted by Alfredo Keller & Associates confirmed that crime was the top concern for Venezuelans heading into the September 26 parliamentary elections, as it had been for some time.
At the end of August the death of Franklin Brito
due to a hunger strike
led to widespread domestic and international media coverage. He had, since 2004, launched a series of unsuccessful legal challenges and dramatic public protests (including a series of hunger strikes) against an alleged government confiscation of part of his farm. The government maintained that his protests were related to land legally owned by his neighbours, and that his final hunger strike came after the disputed land titles had been withdrawn from his neighbours. The government accused the Venezuelan opposition of acting like "vultures" and desiring Brito's death for their own political ends in the context of the coming election.
Opinion polls vary widely, but the government-aligned GIS XXI (directed by former Chavez interior minister Jesse Chacón
) consistently gives poll predictions more favourable to PSUV than other pollsters. GIS XXI's predictions for the February 2009 constitutional referendum
just before polling day tallied closely with those of the independent Instituto Venezolano de Análisis de Datos (IVAD), and both closely matched the outcome (a nearly 10 percent margin of victory for approval); opposition-linked companies were predicting heavy defeat as late as December 2008.
In August 2010, the newspaper Últimas Noticias
published what it said was the result of an unpublished opinion poll by Datanálisis, which showed the PSUV was likely to win 124 of the National Assembly's 165 seats, which would give it a two-thirds majority. Datanálisis later clarified that the results were a February 2010 extrapolation of the results of the last national election, the 2009 constitutional referendum.
on its own, without the support of at least some members of the MUD opposition. The PSUV also did not attain a three-fifths majority, which means it would not be able to pass enabling legislation
without the aid of 3 non-PSUV members of the National Assembly. The three seats reserved for indigenous peoples were elected from the Foundation for Integration and Dignification, the Autonomous Movement of Zulia and from CONIVE.
The election saw the PSUV total 58.18% of the Assembly seats (96 of 165 seats); the PSUV attained this percentage of seats with 48.20% of the national vote.
PSUV got 95 seats and their coalition partner, the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV), got 3 seats. The PCV, Fatherland for All (PTT), and For Social Democracy (PODEMOS) were three of many parties who were part of Chavez's previous coalition, the Fifth Republic Movement, but which refused to be part of the fusion of several parties into the PSUV.
In the elections for the Latin American Parliament
, PSUV and MUD won five seats each, with the remaining seat going to an indigenous representative from CONIVE. PSUV and MUD won 46.62% and 45.1% of the vote, respectively.
Notable new deputies include Maria Corina Machado
and Enrique Mendoza
(both representing Justice First
in districts in Miranda State). PSUV deputies include Aristobulo Isturiz
and Freddy Bernal
(Federal District).
The price on Venezuelan bonds increased on news of the election results, described by Bloomberg as "Chavez’s worst setback at the ballot box since taking office in 1999".
After the election, the Spanish
newspaper El País suggested that the PSUV and the MUD would have finished with 80 seats each had the elections been run under the previous system. The Director of the National Electoral Council
(CNE) said that districts were drawn according to a standard national formula, and pointed out that the disproportionality involved in Venezuela's state-based mixed member majoritarian system didn't uniquely favour one party: in four states (Zulia, Tachira, Anzoategui and Nueva Esparta) PSUV obtained over 40% of the vote, but won only 7 seats against the opposition's 27.
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
took place on 26 September 2010 to elect the 165 deputies to the National Assembly
National Assembly of Venezuela
The National Assembly is the legislative branch of the Venezuelan government. It is a unicameral body made up of a variable number of members, who are elected by "universal, direct, personal, and secret" vote partly by direct election in state-based voting districts, and partly on a state-based...
. Venezuelan opposition parties, which had boycotted the previous election
Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2005
The 2005 Venezuela parliamentary election took place on 4 December 2005. The election sent 167 deputies to the National Assembly of Venezuela, 12 deputies to the Latin American Parliament and 5 deputies to the Andean Parliament...
, thus allowing the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela
United Socialist Party of Venezuela
The United Socialist Party of Venezuela is the name of a democratic socialist political party in Venezuela which resulted from the fusion of some of the political and social forces that support the Bolivarian Revolution led by incumbent President Hugo Chávez...
(PSUV) to gain a two-thirds supermajority, participated in the election through the Coalition for Democratic Unity (MUD). Nationally, the popular vote was split equally between PSUV and MUD, but PSUV won a majority of the first-past-the-post
First-past-the-post
First-past-the-post voting refers to an election won by the candidate with the most votes. The winning potato candidate does not necessarily receive an absolute majority of all votes cast.-Overview:...
seats and consequently retained a substantial majority in the Assembly, although falling short of the two-thirds majority mark.
Of the 165 deputies, 110 were constituency representatives elected on a first-past-the-post
First-past-the-post
First-past-the-post voting refers to an election won by the candidate with the most votes. The winning potato candidate does not necessarily receive an absolute majority of all votes cast.-Overview:...
, the system in 87 electoral districts, 52 elected on a party list system (two or three deputies per state of Venezuela
States of Venezuela
Venezuela is divided into 23 states , 1 Capital District and the Federal Dependencies that consist of a large number of Venezuelan islands...
, depending on population), and 3 seats were reserved for indigenous peoples, with separate rules. Additionally, 12 representatives were chosen for the Latin American Parliament
Latin American Parliament
The Latin American Parliament , is a regional, permanent organization composed by the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. It is a consultative assembly similar to the early European Parliament...
.
There was initially a dispute between alliances that participated in the election as to which alliance received a plurality of votes. Long-term international electoral observers were not invited to observe the election in any technical capacity. Instead, each coalition was allowed to invite 30 foreign officials to observe the elections.
Electoral reform
Elections for the National Assembly of VenezuelaNational Assembly of Venezuela
The National Assembly is the legislative branch of the Venezuelan government. It is a unicameral body made up of a variable number of members, who are elected by "universal, direct, personal, and secret" vote partly by direct election in state-based voting districts, and partly on a state-based...
in the 2000
Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2000
A parliamentary election was held in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on 30 July 2000, having been postponed from the original date of 28 May for technical reasons. This was the first election held under Venezuela's newly adopted 1999 constitution...
and the 2005
Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2005
The 2005 Venezuela parliamentary election took place on 4 December 2005. The election sent 167 deputies to the National Assembly of Venezuela, 12 deputies to the Latin American Parliament and 5 deputies to the Andean Parliament...
were conducted under a weak mixed member proportional system, with 60% elected in first-past-the-post
First-past-the-post
First-past-the-post voting refers to an election won by the candidate with the most votes. The winning potato candidate does not necessarily receive an absolute majority of all votes cast.-Overview:...
voting districts and the remainder by closed party list proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
. This was an adaptation of the system previously used for the Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies
Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies
The Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of Venezuela's legislative under its 1961 constitution; the Venezuelan Senate was the upper house...
, which had been introduced in 1993, with a 50-50 balance between voting districts and party lists, and deputies per state proportional to population, but with a minimum of three deputies per state.
For the 2010 election, the Ley Orgánica de Procesos Electorales (LOPE) (Basic law of electoral process) among other changes reduced the party list proportion to 30%. In addition, the law completely separated the district vote and the party list votes, creating a mixed member majoritarian system. Previously, parties winning nominal district seats had had these subtracted from the total won under the proportional party list, which had encouraged parties to game the system by creating separate parties for the party list. Under the new law, in 2009, electoral districts were redefined
Redistribution (election)
Redistribution , called redistricting in the United States, is the process of changing of political borders. This is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral district boundaries, usually in response to periodic census results that cause malportionment of representation...
in a way that has been accused of favouring the PSUV, particularly in giving more weight to votes in the countryside over those in the city.
Electoral process
In August 2010 the CNE carried out vote simulations, with an average wait of 15–22 minutes. In August/September it also carried out a series of electoral fairs, providing 1500 vote machines in 11 cities for educational purposes, to allow voters to familiarize themselves with the process. As usual in Venezuela, the voting will take place on a non-work day, and the sale of alcohol will be banned starting the day prior to elections. Voting booth attendees are chosen at random by the CNE; for this election, over 400,000 were chosen. Over 80,000 participated in training, compared to 40,000 in 2005.Four domestic NGOs registered 624 observers each. Unlike the election in 2005, major independent election observing organisations such as the Organization of American States
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
, the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
and the Carter Center
Carter Center
The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter. In partnership with Emory University, The Carter Center works to advance human rights and alleviate human suffering...
were not invited to observe this election in a technical capacity. Guests from those bodies allowed to observe the final days of the election were not given the technical observation role they had been given in the past. Instead, each alliance participating in the election was permitted to bring "up to 30 witnesses from abroad." Around 150 international observers were accredited by the CNE, including from the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, the Organization of American States
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
, the African Union
African Union
The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
, the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
by the end of August. The European Union noted in a press release that "the Venezuelan National Electoral Council accredited more than 200 international guests to accompany the day of the election. No long-term international electoral observation missions participated." Foreign observers were warned in a full-page newspaper advertisement "not to interfere with the nation's internal affairs." An opposition spokesman said that "If observers were allowed to watch the campaign, they would have seen the abuse of power and of public resources and public media." The government's Roy Chaderton
Roy Chaderton
Roy Chaderton Matos is a Venezuelan politician, lawyer, and diplomat. A graduate of the Universidad Central de Venezuela, Chaderton is one of the most experienced members of the Venezuelan diplomatic corps. He was foreign minister from May 2002 to February 2004 in the government of Hugo Chávez...
said that foreign observers were present and that comments like this from the opposition were "part of the media terrorism they like to practice".
The CNE monitors political advertisements during campaigns, and reported that for a 3-day period at the end of August, opposition ads made up 75.4% of the airtime given to such ads, across the five main channels Venevisión
Venevisión
Venevisión is one of Venezuela's largest television networks and a Venezuelan cable and terrestrial television network, which is owned and presided over by Gustavo Cisneros...
, Televen
Televen
Televen is a private Venezuelan national television network headquartered on the Caracas neighborhood of Horizonte. For this reason it's also called Canal de Horizonte. Televen was inaugurated as the ‘’TELEVEN Corporation’’ on July 3 1988 by Omar Camero and Radioven, S.A...
, Globovisión
Globovisión
Globovisión is a 24-hour television news network in Venezuela. It broadcasts over-the-air in Caracas, Aragua, Carabobo and Zulia on UHF channel 33. Globovisión is seen in the rest of Venezuela on cable or satellite and worldwide from their website...
, Tves
TVes
TVes is a Venezuelan public television channel. Its name is short for Televisora Venezolana Social and is pronounced , meaning you see yourself. It replaced the signal of Radio Caracas Televisión on Channel 2 on Monday, May 28, 2007, and began broadcasting at 12:20 am local time...
and Venezolana de Televisión
Venezolana de Televisión
Corporación Venezolana de Televisión or VTV is a state-owned television network based in Caracas, Venezuela, which can be seen throughout the country on channel eight...
. Over half the total opposition ad time of around 80 minutes was on Globovisión
Globovisión
Globovisión is a 24-hour television news network in Venezuela. It broadcasts over-the-air in Caracas, Aragua, Carabobo and Zulia on UHF channel 33. Globovisión is seen in the rest of Venezuela on cable or satellite and worldwide from their website...
. President Hugo Chavez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
' weekly television program Aló Presidente
Aló Presidente
Aló Presidente is a largely unscripted talk show hosted by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez which is broadcast on Venezuelan state television and radio stations every Sunday at 11:00 AM...
was suspended during the election campaign (which officially began 25 August, one month before the election), until 3 October. A reporter for The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
claimed that media controlled by the government gave "blanket coverage to the PSUV’s campaign and token, hostile interviews to opposition candidates".
In early September, one member of the five-person CNE, the pro-opposition councillor Vicente Díaz, publicly accused Chavez of breaking campaign laws by using state-run television to "berate rivals and praise friends" during the election campaign. Chavez denied breaking the law, and said that Diaz could be prosecuted for making false accusations. Díaz requested the CNE open administrative proceedings, but after extensive internal discussion the CNE declined, and Díaz publicly "recognised Chavez’s right to political expression as a citizen and also as president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela." The opposition electoral coalition, Coalition for Democratic Unity (MUD) rejected the CNE decision, and said it illustrated CNE's lack of independence and willingness to justify violation of electoral rules.
Campaign
A total of 6,465 candidates registered with the National Electoral CouncilNational Electoral Council (Venezuela)
The National Electoral Council is one of the five independent branches of government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. It is the institution that oversees and guarantees the transparency of all elections and referendums in Venezuela at the local, regional, and national levels...
by the June deadline. Around 17.5 million of the country's 28.5 million population are eligible to vote. The ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela
United Socialist Party of Venezuela
The United Socialist Party of Venezuela is the name of a democratic socialist political party in Venezuela which resulted from the fusion of some of the political and social forces that support the Bolivarian Revolution led by incumbent President Hugo Chávez...
(PSUV), with around 7 million members, is by far the largest party in the country by membership.
PSUV
In order to revise the party's statutes, programme, and primary voting methods, the ruling United Socialist Party of VenezuelaUnited Socialist Party of Venezuela
The United Socialist Party of Venezuela is the name of a democratic socialist political party in Venezuela which resulted from the fusion of some of the political and social forces that support the Bolivarian Revolution led by incumbent President Hugo Chávez...
planned a congress of 772 members representing the country's 759 municipalities. These members were elected by the members of the party in an election held on 15 November 2009. At this congress, beginning on 21 November 2009 and ending in March 2010, members were to debate each weekend over the new standards of the party, in which are included voting and selection method for the upcoming parliamentary elections. Primary election
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
s were held on 2 May 2010, with over 2.5 million party members choosing over 3500 nominees for the 110 constituency representatives, in 87 electoral districts. Nominees for the PSUV party lists were announced later that month.
Opposition
The main Venezuelan opposition parties had boycotted the 2005 parliamentary electionVenezuelan parliamentary election, 2005
The 2005 Venezuela parliamentary election took place on 4 December 2005. The election sent 167 deputies to the National Assembly of Venezuela, 12 deputies to the Latin American Parliament and 5 deputies to the Andean Parliament...
, unexpectedly withdrawing just before election day, despite a dispute over the voting process apparently having been resolved with the support of the Organization of American States
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
(OAS). Eleven deputies subsequently defected to the opposition or declared themselves independent.
In June 2009, it was reported that the opposition parties were planning to create the Mesa de la Unidad Democrática
Mesa de la Unidad Democrática
The Mesa de la Unidad Democrática is an electoral coalition of Venezuelan political parties formed in January 2008 to unify the opposition to President Hugo Chávez' United Socialist Party of Venezuela in the Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2010...
(Coalition for Democratic Unity, MUD) a coalition that would include all of the opposition parties which might select unique candidates for the upcoming elections. A previous opposition umbrella group, the Coordinadora Democrática
Coordinadora Democrática (Venezuela)
The Coordinadora Democrática was an umbrella group of Venezuelan political parties and organisations opposed to President Hugo Chavez. Founded on 5 July 2002, it was involved in organising the Venezuelan general strike of 2002-2003 and the Venezuelan recall referendum, 2004...
, had collapsed after the failure of the 2004 recall referendum.
By April 2010, the MUD included around 50 political parties, of which 16 were national in scope and the rest regional, and received support from some other social organisations and opinion groups. The main parties included in MUD are the traditional Democratic Action
Democratic Action
Democratic Action is a centrist Venezuelan political party established in 1941. The party and its antecedents played an important role in the early years of Venezuelan democracy, and led the government during Venezuela's first democratic period...
and COPEI
COPEI
Copei – Social Christian Party of Venezuela is a third way political party in Venezuela. The name stands for Comité de Organización Política Electoral Independiente...
(which held power from 1958 to 1998); the left groups Movement for Socialism
Movement for Socialism (Venezuela)
Movement for Socialism is a center-left political party in Venezuela.-History:The Movement for Socialism is a social-democratic political party in Venezuela. MAS was founded in 1971 by a faction of the Communist Party of Venezuela, with a view to emphasising a socialist message...
, Radical Cause
Radical Cause
The Radical Cause is a working class political party in Venezuela, part of the Venezuelan opposition to president Hugo Chavez...
and Red Flag Party
Red Flag Party
Red Flag Party is a communist party in Venezuela. It was formed in 1970 by anti-revisionist members of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left...
; and more recently established parties A New Era
A New Era
A New Era is a centrist political party of Venezuela arising from the Third Way tradition. It is the largest party in Venezuela's fractured opposition, earning 11% of the vote in the 2008 gubernatorial elections...
, Justice First
Justice First
Justice First Movement is a centrist political party in Venezuela.-History:Primero Justicia was created in 1992 as a Civil Association by a group of university students who were concerned about what they saw as a deterioration of judicial power in the country and joined their efforts to...
and For Social Democracy
For Social Democracy
PODEMOS is a political party in Venezuela. In the 2005 legislative elections the party won 15 out of 165 seats in the National Assembly....
("PODEMOS"). In April the MUD held primaries in 15 electoral districts, with 361,000 voters participating, and selecting 22 candidates (the remaining 143 candidates were chosen "by consensus"). The candidates chosen included Maria Corina Machado
María Corina Machado
María Corina Machado Parisca is a founder, former vice president, and former president of the Venezuelan volunteer civil organization Súmate, along with Alejandro Plaz....
(of Sumate
Súmate
Súmate is a Venezuelan volunteer civil association founded in 2002 by María Corina Machado and Alejandro Plaz. Súmate describes itself as a vote-monitoring group; it has also been described as an election-monitoring group....
) and Manuel Rosales
Manuel Rosales
Manuel Antonio Rosales Guerrero is a Venezuelan educator and politician and was the most prominent opposition candidate in the 2006 presidential election, losing to incumbent Hugo Chávez...
, the opposition's candidate in the 2006 presidential election
Venezuelan presidential election, 2006
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela held presidential elections on 3 December 2006, to choose a president for the six-year term to begin on 10 January 2007...
and now in exile in Peru (due to corruption charges, which he denies). In addition, a number of the nine police officials imprisoned for participating in the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt, regarded by the MUD as political prisoners, were also nominated, in districts with a real chance of opposition success; winning would require their release due to parliamentary immunity
Parliamentary immunity
Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which members of the parliament or legislature are granted partial immunity from prosecution. Before prosecuting, it is necessary that the immunity be removed, usually by a superior court of justice or by the parliament itself...
.
The MUD is supported by the Movimiento 2D
Movimiento 2D
The Movimiento 2D is a Venezuelan opposition movement led by El Nacional editor and proprietor Miguel Henrique Otero...
opposition movement led by El Nacional
El Nacional
El Nacional is a Venezuelan publishing company under the name C.A. Editorial El Nacional, most widely known for its El Nacional newspaper. It, along with Últimas Noticias and El Universal, are the most widely read and circulated daily national newspapers in the country, and it has an average of...
editor and proprietor Miguel Henrique Otero.
Events
In mid-August 2010 El Nacional sparked an international outcry when its frontpage publication of a graphic archival photo of bodies in a morgue, to illustrate a story about rising crime rates, led the government to temporarily ban such publications. The ban was later overturned. El NacionalEl Nacional
El Nacional is a Venezuelan publishing company under the name C.A. Editorial El Nacional, most widely known for its El Nacional newspaper. It, along with Últimas Noticias and El Universal, are the most widely read and circulated daily national newspapers in the country, and it has an average of...
editor and proprietor Miguel Henrique Otero, leader of the opposition movement Movimiento 2D
Movimiento 2D
The Movimiento 2D is a Venezuelan opposition movement led by El Nacional editor and proprietor Miguel Henrique Otero...
, said that "The editorial reasoning behind the photo was to create a shock so that people could in some way react to a situation that the government has done absolutely nothing about." The incident brought further international attention to the issue of Venezuela's crime rates (having already received widespread attention as a leading issue of public concern), and was followed by a New York Times article claiming Venezuela's murder rate was higher than that of Iraq, although the comparison used Iraq Body Count's numbers derived from media reports rather than the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
's survey-based estimates, which are three times higher. The article mentioned the recent creation of the Bolivarian National Police, and Experimental Security University
Experimental Security University
The Experimental Security University is a state university in Venezuela founded in 2009. It specialises in providing training for Venezuelan police and security forces, in particular the new Policía Nacional Bolivariana...
, but omitted the government's claim that as a result of these and other measures, Venezuela's homicide rate had fallen 18% in three months in the first half of 2010. A September 2010 poll conducted by Alfredo Keller & Associates confirmed that crime was the top concern for Venezuelans heading into the September 26 parliamentary elections, as it had been for some time.
At the end of August the death of Franklin Brito
Franklin Brito
Franklin José Brito Rodríguez was a Venezuelan agricultural producer and biologist who gained national and international prominence over a land ownership dispute with his neighbours. He carried out a series of legal challenges and dramatic public protests from 2004, often coinciding with other...
due to a hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
led to widespread domestic and international media coverage. He had, since 2004, launched a series of unsuccessful legal challenges and dramatic public protests (including a series of hunger strikes) against an alleged government confiscation of part of his farm. The government maintained that his protests were related to land legally owned by his neighbours, and that his final hunger strike came after the disputed land titles had been withdrawn from his neighbours. The government accused the Venezuelan opposition of acting like "vultures" and desiring Brito's death for their own political ends in the context of the coming election.
Opinion polls
| Poll company | Source | Publication date | PSUV | Opposition | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GIS XXI | Radio Nacional de Venezuela | March 2010 | 32 | 22 | 36 |
| GIS XXI | Radio Nacional de Venezuela | May 2010 | 36 | 23 | 33 |
| GIS XXI | Radio Nacional de Venezuela | June 2010 | 44 | 20 | - |
| Hinterlaces | Hinterlaces El Universal | July 2010 | 27 | 28 | 23 |
| GIS XXI | Correo del Orinoco | August 2010 | 50 | 44 | N/A |
| IVAD | El Universal | August 2010 | 45 | 43 | N/A |
| Keller & Asociados | El Universal | August 2010 | 32 | 46 | N/A |
| Keller & Asociados | El Universal | 2 September 2010 | 43 | 57 | 0 |
| Datanálisis | ABC.es | September 2010 | 52 | 48 | N/A |
| Hinterlaces | Unión Radio Descifrado | September 2010 | 41 | 37 | N/A |
| IVAD | Unión Radio Descifrado | September 2010 | 54 | 46 | N/A |
Opinion polls vary widely, but the government-aligned GIS XXI (directed by former Chavez interior minister Jesse Chacón
Jesse Chacón
Jesse Alonso Chacón Escamillo was Venezuelan Minister of Interior and Justice from September 2004 to January 2007, under the presidency of Hugo Chávez. He had been a close ally of Chávez since 1990 or earlier...
) consistently gives poll predictions more favourable to PSUV than other pollsters. GIS XXI's predictions for the February 2009 constitutional referendum
Venezuelan constitutional referendum, 2009
The 2009 referendum was a vote in which the citizens of Venezuela approved Amendment No. 1 of the Constitution of Venezuela; this abolished term limits for the offices of President, state governors, mayors and National Assembly deputies.The current constitution, enacted in 1999 by referendum,...
just before polling day tallied closely with those of the independent Instituto Venezolano de Análisis de Datos (IVAD), and both closely matched the outcome (a nearly 10 percent margin of victory for approval); opposition-linked companies were predicting heavy defeat as late as December 2008.
In August 2010, the newspaper Últimas Noticias
Últimas Noticias
Últimas Noticias is the highest selling daily newspaper in Venezuela. It was founded in Caracas in 1941 after the pro-freedom measures implemented by President Medina Angarita.In 2008 it publishes 170,000 copies a day ....
published what it said was the result of an unpublished opinion poll by Datanálisis, which showed the PSUV was likely to win 124 of the National Assembly's 165 seats, which would give it a two-thirds majority. Datanálisis later clarified that the results were a February 2010 extrapolation of the results of the last national election, the 2009 constitutional referendum.
Results
Complete results were available on 28 September, showing a turnout of 66.45%. The PSUV won 96 seats, the MUD 64 and the PPT 2. The PSUV thus lost their two-thirds majority in the assembly, and thus would not be able to pass organic legislationOrganic law
An organic or fundamental law is a law or system of laws which forms the foundation of a government, corporation or other organization's body of rules. A constitution is a particular form of organic law for a sovereign state....
on its own, without the support of at least some members of the MUD opposition. The PSUV also did not attain a three-fifths majority, which means it would not be able to pass enabling legislation
Enabling act
An enabling act is a piece of legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it for authorization or legitimacy the power to take certain actions. For example, enabling acts often establish government agencies to carry out specific government policies in a modern nation...
without the aid of 3 non-PSUV members of the National Assembly. The three seats reserved for indigenous peoples were elected from the Foundation for Integration and Dignification, the Autonomous Movement of Zulia and from CONIVE.
The election saw the PSUV total 58.18% of the Assembly seats (96 of 165 seats); the PSUV attained this percentage of seats with 48.20% of the national vote.
PSUV got 95 seats and their coalition partner, the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV), got 3 seats. The PCV, Fatherland for All (PTT), and For Social Democracy (PODEMOS) were three of many parties who were part of Chavez's previous coalition, the Fifth Republic Movement, but which refused to be part of the fusion of several parties into the PSUV.
In the elections for the Latin American Parliament
Latin American Parliament
The Latin American Parliament , is a regional, permanent organization composed by the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. It is a consultative assembly similar to the early European Parliament...
, PSUV and MUD won five seats each, with the remaining seat going to an indigenous representative from CONIVE. PSUV and MUD won 46.62% and 45.1% of the vote, respectively.
| State States of Venezuela Venezuela is divided into 23 states , 1 Capital District and the Federal Dependencies that consist of a large number of Venezuelan islands... | | Party list seats | | Nominal seats | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | | Seats | | PSUV United Socialist Party of Venezuela The United Socialist Party of Venezuela is the name of a democratic socialist political party in Venezuela which resulted from the fusion of some of the political and social forces that support the Bolivarian Revolution led by incumbent President Hugo Chávez... | | MUD Mesa de la Unidad Democrática The Mesa de la Unidad Democrática is an electoral coalition of Venezuelan political parties formed in January 2008 to unify the opposition to President Hugo Chávez' United Socialist Party of Venezuela in the Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2010... | | PPT | |||||||||||||
| PSUV United Socialist Party of Venezuela The United Socialist Party of Venezuela is the name of a democratic socialist political party in Venezuela which resulted from the fusion of some of the political and social forces that support the Bolivarian Revolution led by incumbent President Hugo Chávez... | MUD Mesa de la Unidad Democrática The Mesa de la Unidad Democrática is an electoral coalition of Venezuelan political parties formed in January 2008 to unify the opposition to President Hugo Chávez' United Socialist Party of Venezuela in the Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2010... | PPT | Others | PSUV United Socialist Party of Venezuela The United Socialist Party of Venezuela is the name of a democratic socialist political party in Venezuela which resulted from the fusion of some of the political and social forces that support the Bolivarian Revolution led by incumbent President Hugo Chávez... | MUD Mesa de la Unidad Democrática The Mesa de la Unidad Democrática is an electoral coalition of Venezuelan political parties formed in January 2008 to unify the opposition to President Hugo Chávez' United Socialist Party of Venezuela in the Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2010... | PPT | PODEMOS For Social Democracy PODEMOS is a political party in Venezuela. In the 2005 legislative elections the party won 15 out of 165 seats in the National Assembly.... | MPJ Justice First Justice First Movement is a centrist political party in Venezuela.-History:Primero Justicia was created in 1992 as a Civil Association by a group of university students who were concerned about what they saw as a deterioration of judicial power in the country and joined their efforts to... | AD Democratic Action Democratic Action is a centrist Venezuelan political party established in 1941. The party and its antecedents played an important role in the early years of Venezuelan democracy, and led the government during Venezuela's first democratic period... | Causa Я Radical Cause The Radical Cause is a working class political party in Venezuela, part of the Venezuelan opposition to president Hugo Chavez... | CC | COPEI | UNT A New Era A New Era is a centrist political party of Venezuela arising from the Third Way tradition. It is the largest party in Venezuela's fractured opposition, earning 11% of the vote in the 2008 gubernatorial elections... | PV Project Venezuela Project Venezuela is a political party in Venezuela.At the legislative elections, 30 July 2000, the party won 7 out of 165 seats in the National Assembly of Venezuela. The legislative elections of 2006 were boycotted by the party... |
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| Amazonas Amazonas (Venezuelan state) Amazonas State is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided.The state capital is Puerto Ayacucho. The capital until the early 1900s was San Fernando de Atabapo. Although named after the Amazon River, most of the state is drained by the Orinoco. Amazonas State covers a total surface... |
23,934 | 8,071 | 23,699 | 1,244 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Anzoátegui Anzoátegui Anzoátegui State , is one of the 23 component states of Venezuela, located in the northeastern region of the country. Anzoátegui is well known for its beautiful beaches that attract many visitors. Its coast consists of a single beach approximately 100 km long... |
278,717 | 323,701 | 5,326 | 12,172 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ||||||||
| Apure Apure Apure State is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided. Its territory formed part of the provinces of Mérida, Maracaibo, and Barinas, in accordance with successive territorial ordinations pronounced by the colonial authorities. In 1824 the Department of Apure was created, under... |
97,966 | 59,197 | 2,623 | 2,069 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Aragua Aragua * Aragua State, Venezuela* Aragua de Maturín* Aragua River* Aragua Municipality, Anzoátegui State, Venezuela* Aragua de Barcelona, Anzoátegui State, Venezuela* Aragua Fútbol Club* Aragua Glass Frog... |
354,638 | 328,165 | 5,990 | 16,567 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | |||||||||
| Barinas Barinas (state) Barinas State is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided. The state capital is Barinas. Current President Hugo Chávez was born in this state... |
172,643 | 129,244 | 2,743 | 1,736 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||
| Bolivar Bolívar (state) Bolívar State , is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided. The state capital city is Ciudad Bolívar. Bolívar State covers a total surface area of 238,000 km² and in June 30, 2010 had an estimated population of 1,620,359.... |
257,546 | 243,998 | 4,766 | 5,414 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | |||||||||
| Carabobo Carabobo Carabobo State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela, located in the north of the country, about two hours by car from Caracas. The capital city of this state is Valencia, which is also the country's main industrial center. The state's area is 4,650 km² and had an estimated population of... |
390,834 | 484,390 | 6,724 | 23,096 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Cojedes Cojedes (state) Cojedes State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Carlos.Cojedes State covers a total surface area of 14,800 km² and, in 2007, had an estimated population of 300,300.- History :... |
80,837 | 41,207 | 1,086 | 3,381 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Delta Amacuro Delta Amacuro Delta Amacuro State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela, and is the location of the Orinoco Delta. The Paria Gulf and the Atlantic Ocean are found to the north, Bolívar State is found to the south, the Atlantic Ocean and Guyana are found to the east, and Monagas State is found to the west... |
51,013 | 16,264 | 584 | 3,436 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||
| Distrito Capital Venezuelan Capital District The Capital District of Venezuela is a federal district corresponding to the capital Caracas. It has an area of 433 km² and there is only one administrative division , Libertador, which contains about half City of Caracas. It is the seat of the federal government and the head of the public... |
484,103 | 484,844 | 11,313 | 33,862 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | |||||||||
| Falcón Falcón Falcón State is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided. The state capital is Coro.-Demographics and geography:Falcón State covers a total surface area of 24,800 km² and, in 2010, had an estimated population of 950,057. The Paraguaná Peninsula is connected to the rest of the... |
189,769 | 167,674 | 3,562 | 1,976 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||||||||
| Guárico Guárico Guárico State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Juan de Los Morros. Guárico State covers a total surface area of 64 986 km² and, in 2007, had an estimated population of 745,100.-Municipalities and municipal seats:... |
164,281 | 82,372 | 32,407 | 2,852 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Lara Lara (state) Lara State is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided. The state capital is Barquisimeto.Lara State covers a total surface area of and, in 2007, had an estimated population of 1,795,100.- Municipalities and municipal seats :... |
297,275 | 219,348 | 207,181 | 4,980 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | |||||||||
| Mérida Mérida (state) Mérida State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Mérida.Mérida State covers a total surface area of 11,300 km² and, in 2007, had an estimated population of 843,800.- Climate and Vegetation :... |
178,638 | 183,563 | 2,851 | 1,734 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||||||||
| Miranda Miranda (state) Miranda State is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided. It is ranked second in population among Venezuelan states, after Zulia State. In June 30, 2010, it had approximately 2,987,968 residents. It also has the greatest Human Development Index in Venezuela, according to the... |
501,468 | 691,118 | 7,026 | 10,245 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | |||||||||
| Monagas Monagas Monagas State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela.Monagas State covers a total surface area of 28,900 km² and, in June 30, 2010, had an estimated population of 908,626.... |
194,118 | 116,909 | 1,975 | 17,546 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||
| Nueva Esparta Nueva Esparta Nueva Esparta State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It comprises Margarita Island, Coche, and the largely uninhabited Cubagua.The state is the smallest one in area, and is located off the northeast Caribbean coast of Venezuela. It is the only insular state of Venuezuela... |
78,656 | 111,735 | 1,345 | 968 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Portuguesa Portuguesa (state) Portuguesa State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela.The state capital is Guanare, founded in 1591.Portuguesa State covers a total surface area of 15,200 km² and, in 2007, had an estimated population of 873,400.-Municipalities:... |
205,739 | 104,887 | 7,102 | 8,274 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||
| Sucre Sucre (state) Sucre State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Cumaná. Sucre State covers a total surface area of 11,800 km² and, in 2007, had an estimated population of 916,600.-Municipalities and municipal seats:... |
170,541 | 157,239 | 2,506 | 1,502 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| Táchira | 216,393 | 290,217 | 1,672 | 5,771 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |||||||||
| Trujillo Trujillo (state) Trujillo State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. Its capital is Trujillo. The state is divided into 20 municipalities and 93 parishes. Trujillo State covers a total surface area of 7,400 km² and, in 2007, had an estimated population of 711,400.... |
175,116 | 98,538 | 2,809 | 2,861 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Vargas Vargas (state) Vargas State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. Named after Venezuela's first non-military president, José María Vargas, Vargas comprises a coastal region in the north of Venezuela, bordering Aragua to the west, Miranda to the east, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Capital District to the... |
84,241 | 66,553 | 1,291 | 1,574 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||
| Yaracuy Yaracuy Yaracuy State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It is bordered by Falcón in the north, in the west by Lara, in the south by Portuguesa and Cojedes and in the east by Cojedes and Carabobo.... |
131,982 | 97,725 | 11,129 | 1,063 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Zulia Zulia Zulia State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. In June 30, 2010, it had an estimated population of 3,821,068, giving it the largest population among Venezuela's states. It is located in the northwestern part of the country... |
670,974 | 827,350 | 6,967 | 4,414 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 10 | |||||||||
| TOTAL | 5,451,422 48.20% |
5,334,309 47.17% |
354,677 3.14% |
168,737 1.49% |
25 | 26 | 1 | 71 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 1 |
| Three additional seats are reserved for indigenous peoples: these were won by the Fundación para la Capacitación e Integración y Dignificación, the Movimiento Indígena Autónomo del estado Zulia and the Consejo Nacional Indio de Venezuela National Council of Venezuelan Indians The National Council of Venezuelan Indians is a political party in Venezuela.At the Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2000, the party won 3 out of 165 seats in the National Assembly of Venezuela. At the Venezuelan parliamentary election, 2010 it won 1 seat.-External links:*... (CONIVE). |
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| Source: National Electoral Council National Electoral Council (Venezuela) The National Electoral Council is one of the five independent branches of government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. It is the institution that oversees and guarantees the transparency of all elections and referendums in Venezuela at the local, regional, and national levels... |
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Notable new deputies include Maria Corina Machado
María Corina Machado
María Corina Machado Parisca is a founder, former vice president, and former president of the Venezuelan volunteer civil organization Súmate, along with Alejandro Plaz....
and Enrique Mendoza
Enrique Mendoza
Enrique Mendoza is a Venezuelan politician. From 1989 until 1996, Mendoza was the mayor of Sucre Municipality, Miranda of Caracas; he was governor of Miranda state from 1995 to 2004, being re-elected in 1998 and 2000. In 2004 Mendoza was chosen as head of the Coordinadora Democrática.The U.S...
(both representing Justice First
Justice First
Justice First Movement is a centrist political party in Venezuela.-History:Primero Justicia was created in 1992 as a Civil Association by a group of university students who were concerned about what they saw as a deterioration of judicial power in the country and joined their efforts to...
in districts in Miranda State). PSUV deputies include Aristobulo Isturiz
Aristóbulo Istúriz
Aristóbulo Istúriz is a Venezuelan politician and academic. He was a professor at the Centro de Estudios del Desarrollo of the Universidad Central de Venezuela. He was elected to Parliament several times for Acción Democrática, representing the Federal District , before joining the Radical Cause...
and Freddy Bernal
Freddy Bernal
Freddy Bernal is the ex-mayor of the Libertador Municipality in Caracas, Venezuela and a member of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela ....
(Federal District).
Reaction
Chavez called the results a "solid victory."The price on Venezuelan bonds increased on news of the election results, described by Bloomberg as "Chavez’s worst setback at the ballot box since taking office in 1999".
Analysis
According to Reuters, "The new parliamentarians do not take their seats until January, so Chavez has a compliant Assembly for three months more to push through legislation."After the election, the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
newspaper El País suggested that the PSUV and the MUD would have finished with 80 seats each had the elections been run under the previous system. The Director of the National Electoral Council
National Electoral Council (Venezuela)
The National Electoral Council is one of the five independent branches of government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. It is the institution that oversees and guarantees the transparency of all elections and referendums in Venezuela at the local, regional, and national levels...
(CNE) said that districts were drawn according to a standard national formula, and pointed out that the disproportionality involved in Venezuela's state-based mixed member majoritarian system didn't uniquely favour one party: in four states (Zulia, Tachira, Anzoategui and Nueva Esparta) PSUV obtained over 40% of the vote, but won only 7 seats against the opposition's 27.
Further reading
- Birnbaum, Ben. Washington Times, 23 September 2010, "Venezuelan opposition faces hurdles in elections".
- Carroll, Rory. The Guardian, 27 September 2010, "Venezuela election loosens Chávez's grip on power".
- Cawthorne, Andrew. Reuters, 27 September 2010, Analysis: Venezuela opposition buoyed for 2012 presidential race.
- Devereux, Charlie and Corina Rodriguez Pons. Business Week, 27 September 2010, "Venezuela’s Opposition Pushes Back Chavez in Vote".
- Grant, Will. BBC News, 27 September 2010, Frustration for Chavez over poll
- Jaramillo, Andrea. Bloomberg, 27 September 2010. Venezuelan Bonds Gain as Chavez Loses Congressional Seats in Worst Setback.
- Mogollon, Mery and Chris Kraul. Los Angeles Times, 27 September 2010, "Chavez's party loses its supermajority in Venezuela elections".
- Molinski, Dan and Jose de Cordoba. The Wall Street Journal, 24 September 2010, "Chávez Faces Election Challenge".
- Romero, Simon. The New York Times, 27 September 2010."Chávez Allies Win Majority, but Foes Make Gains".
- Romero, Simon. The New York Times, 26 September 2010. "Venezuelans Vote for Legislators".
- Toothaker, Christopher, The Associated Press, 27 September 2010."Chavez allies win congressional majority in vote".
- Toothaker, Christopher, The Washington Post, 27 September 2010, "Chavez allies see congressional majority cut back".
- The Economist, 23 September 2010, "Chávez grapples with a 50/50 nation".
- The Financial Times, 27 September 2010, "Opposition’s poll gains threaten Chávez agenda".