Posted on 04/14/2002 4:01:40 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
".....The opposition coalition won at least 99 seats in the incoming 167-seat legislature, electoral authorities announced after midnight Sunday. The ruling socialist party won 46 seats. The 22 remaining races remain up for grabs but if enough are won by the opposition it could give the coalition a two-thirds supermajority needed to strongly challenge President Nicolas Maduro's grip on power....
.........Opposition leaders meanwhile spoke in strident terms, a prelude to what's likely to be a period of intense political fighting in a deeply polarized country mired in an economic crisis. Voter turnout was a stunning 74 percent, the highest for a parliamentary vote since compulsory voting ended in the 1990s, as Venezuelans punished Maduro's government for widespread shortages, a plunging currency and triple-digit inflation that has brought the economy to its knees.........
...Their work will be easier if they obtain a two-thirds majority of 112 lawmakers - still a possibility if enough of the undecided races break the opposition's way. Such a super majority would allow the congress to sack supreme court justices, pass major legislation and even convene a convention to rewrite Chavez's 1999 constitution."
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