Posted on 12/04/2005 8:29:38 PM PST by minus_273
Parties allied to President Hugo Chavez say they have won all 167 seats in the country's parliament, after elections boycotted by the opposition. None of the five main opposition parties took part, accusing the electoral body of bias.
Only about 25% of registered voters cast a ballot.
A two-thirds majority in parliament will allow Mr Chavez to remove the current constitutional limit of two presidential terms in office.
But the opposition says the low turnout deprives the election of legitimacy.
"Venezuela is speaking with its silence," said Julio Borges, a prominent opposition member.
'Resisting death'
The Fifth Republic Movement, Mr Chavez's party, won 114 seats in the 167 single-chamber National Assembly, according to senior party member, Willian Lara.
Security was stepped up on the polling day
He said the remainder of seats had been won by allies of the president.
Previously, Mr Chavez's supporters had only held 89 seats.
If confirmed, these results would mean that Mr Chavez would have the two-thirds majority he needs to amend the constitution without needing to court other parties' support.
About 14.5 million Venezuelans were eligible to vote.
The BBC's Greg Morsbach in Caracas says people queued to vote in deprived parts of the city, where support for the president is usually strong.
Polling stations in middle class urban areas were almost empty, our correspondent says.
The National Electoral Council said 556 out of 5,500 candidates pulled out of the congressional vote.
Opposition leaders accused the electoral authorities of favouring pro-government candidates.
Mr Chavez condemned the boycott as a Washington-backed plot to destabilise his regime - a charge the US rejected.
"These old parties, they are already dead, but they are still hanging on, resisting death," Mr Chavez told reporters after voting.
"Now they've accelerated their own demise."
Pipeline blast
The government deployed thousands of soldiers nationwide to maintain order during the vote.
Hours before voting began, an oil pipeline in the west of the country was damaged in a blast, which officials claimed was a sabotage attack.
The poll is being monitored by observers from the EU and the Organisation of American States, who declared it legitimate.
However, the opposition group Sumate says there were some irregularities.
Nice to see the EU verified it too.
But did Jimmy Carter sign off? I refuse to believe any election results otherwise.
just a matter of days before jimmy Carter certifies the election as legitimate.
i like how he has 100% of their parliamentary body and will remove presidential term limits. Can you say communism?
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Sounds like our Dems went down there and held the election FOR HIM. Just following the role model of Cuba ---
u type way faster than i do
Of course, the Dems and liberals will call this a valid election...while the Iraqi elections with larger turnouts than our own PLUS the inclusion of Sunnis means nothing. Or worse, they portray it as a failure...
They are despicable.
"A two-thirds majority in parliament will allow Mr Chavez to remove the current constitutional limit of two presidential terms in office."
I suppose he doesn't need "socialism" anymore as political cover for dictatorship. He's got Cuban agents and Diebold voting machines.
One more notch on Jimmy Carter's pro-communist legacy. Next step, opposition parties will be outlawed and all the press will be "nationalized". I hope Chavez enjoys his bloody dictatorship right up until the time they overrun his bunker and hang him.
DNC wet dream: Republicans sit out the next election and only 25% of registered voters in America vote.
yup they are already celebrating:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1966067
Though there are a few who are afraid this will show chavez for what he is, a dictator.
If the opposition boycotts the election then what do they expect? To win? They should have bothered to enter into the election before declaring it fraudulant.
When Chavez purchases a 100,000 ak47's and stations his soldiers at the polling stations to "ensure safety for the voters", I don't blame them for staying away. The opposition are probably more worried about staying alive than they are about the election.
well id they entered and obviously lost, it would have made the results look legitimate. now, they just look outrageous. The reason the boycotted was because the voting machines were cooked AND the election commission was being run my Chavez. They would only have won a handful of seats just for "legitimacy"
that and they were keeping track of who voted for whom with finger prints.
The solution for this crazy clown dictator called Chavez is a bullet in his head.
If the deck was stacked and the outcome preordained, you might as well sit out the farce. I guess they weren't counting on Jimmy the C to keep it fair.
We didn't do it to Castro and now we have two Castro's and a bunch of mini-Castros on the horizon. When are we going to learn?
I think we should let Mexico takes care of Chavez. Vincente Fox really despises this communist jerk Chavez.
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