Venezuela’s opposition coalition has obtained important two thirds vote
Venezuela’s opposition coalition has obtained the important two-thirds majority in the National Assembly that it needs to undertake major reform following Sunday’s legislative elections, the country’s electoral body confirmed late Tuesday.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) announced that the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) coalition would have 112 seats in the 167-member assembly, including the three deputies who represent Venezuela’s indigenous communities that are allied with the opposition bloc.
We will have a constitutional, revolutionary and, above all, a socialist reaction to every measure that comes out of the Assembly”
President Nicolás Maduro
The remaining 55 seats went to President Nicolás Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which was delivered a stunning blow by voters on Sunday.
Although the weekend vote passed off peacefully, political tensions are on the rise in Caracas.
On Tuesday, Maduro asked for the resignations of all his Cabinet members and promised to veto a measure proposed by the opposition that calls for the immediate release of political prisoners, including opposition leader Leopoldo López, who is serving a 13-year sentence for violence stemming from nationwide protests held in February 2014.
“We will have a constitutional, revolutionary and, above all, a socialist reaction to every measure that comes out of the Assembly,” the Venezuelan leader said during his weekly television program.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles said: “Maduro should read the results of the election, make a gesture by releasing political prisoners, and call the country together in national unity.”
“To me the priorities are the economy, society and the insecurity that there is in Venezuela,” said opposition leader Henrique Capriles in an interview with EL PAÍS. “We are going to have to question all the economy and finance ministers and they will have to render accounts. We need to know what the official inflation rate is since we haven’t had any numbers since last December.”
Venezuela is suffering from severe food shortages brought on in part by the global drop in oil prices and inefficient government policies. At the same time, rampant crime has positioned Venezuela as the second-most-dangerous country in the world in some rankings.
After polls closed in Sunday’s historic race, in which nearly 75 percent of eligible voters participated, the CNE reported that the MUD coalition had won 99 seats and the PSUV 46. Based on their own calculations, opposition officials maintained that they had achieved a two-thirds “super majority” of 112 deputies and pushed the CNE to speed up the vote count for the remaining seats.
Some opposition leaders charged that CNE members were aligned with the Maduro government because they were dragging their feet in releasing the total tally.
