Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has lead his ruling United Socialists Party of Venezuela to victory at the parliamentary elections.
While Chavez’s party won the majority of seats, they lost the so-called supermajority of 137 seats they previously held, which allowed the quick passage of legislation through parliament, and the passing of some of Chavez’s more quirky pet projects.
While Chavez himself was not on the ballots, nearly all other parliamentary seats where, and there was an unspoken feeling that these elections were also a referendum for Chavez’s government. The government came out on top with at least 90 seats to the opposition coalitions 59, but there are still seats too close to call at this stage.
While Chavez’s party won the majority of seats, the opposition took out 52 percent of the popular vote, a point which was well noted by opposition leader Ramon Guillermo Aveledo who called the results a “perversion of an electoral system.” Aveledo, despite feeling disadvantaged in the election commented that “voting is always worth it” even in the face of such challenges.
Voters went to the polls on Sunday, with a more than 60 percent turn out of registered voters. However the voting system is set up to give more weight to rural votes over urban votes, which accounts for the opposition coalition winning the popular vote but still having less than fifty percent of the parliamentary seats. Chavez relies heavily on the rural vote, with the majority of his supporters in poor rural areas.
