On the 26th of September, Venezuela voted for the legislative elections. Chavez's party, PSUV, took 48.9 % of the votes and 97 seats, whereas the opposition bloc won 47.9 % of the votes and 65 seats. Parties supporting Chavez did not reach the three-fifths majority (99 legislators) required under the Constitution to grant enabling powers to Chavez to pass laws. However the Venezuelan President claims a landslide victory. The newly elected National Assembly will be sworn in on January 5, 2011.
From the Venezualan Press:
Pro-Chavez Media:
- "President Hugo Chavez's party, PSUV, achieved a landslide victory"
- Photos on the elections in the "Blog of Chavez"
Opposition Media:
- Chavez can be defeated in 2012
- Intelligence Service retains Spanish MEP in Venezuelan airport
- Venezuela's government to speed up socialist model
- "The ruling party did not meet the goal to have a two-thirds qualified majority"
- Venezuelan Political Satire
Pro-Chavez Media:
October 1, 2010
"President Hugo Chavez's party, PSUV, achieved a landslide victory"
"President Hugo Chavez's party, PSUV, achieved a landslide victory this past Sunday, September 26 in the nation's legislative elections, winning 98 seats out of 165 in the parliament. The coalition of opposition parties, grouped under the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), won 65 seats, while a third party, PPT, took two. [...]
"In all scenarios, PSUV won. It is an impressive achievement for a political party formed just three years ago, and demonstrates PSUV is the primary political force in the country.
"This year was one of the most difficult for the Chavez administration since it came to power in 1999. Electrical energy problems [...]The global financial crisis [...]Inflation and speculation [...]Despite the government's efforts to solve these difficult and complex problems, the manipulation perpetuated through mass media, nationally and internationally, ignored the reality and exaggerated the negative, influencing voters' decisions at the polls. [...]
"A ferocious international media campaign against the Chavez administration has attempted to link the government with terrorism, drug trafficking, authoritarianism and human rights violations, with little, if any, alternative viewpoints. And nationally, the majority owned private media ran fear campaigns about communism, corruption and dictatorships, in the style of US Cold War propaganda. [...]
"Another important factor influencing these elections was the multimillion-dollar support the opposition campaign received from US agencies, such as USAID, National Endowment for Democracy (NED), International Republican Institute (IRI) and National Democratic Institute (NDI). These agencies, backing the opposition to Chavez for years, achieved a major result; their most loyal agents won top seats in parliament.
"Efforts backed by US agencies to destabilize Venezuela and force Chavez's removal from power have not succeeded since the 2002 coup d'état. Since then, economic sabotages and numerous electoral interventions had failed to produce favorable results for the opposition. [...]"
El Correo del Orinoco (Venezuela)
The Opposition Media:
September 30, 2010
Chavez can be defeated in 2012
Although the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) did not reach the 110 seats it needed to have a supermajority at the Venezuelan National Assembly, and won only 100,000 votes more than the opposition, government leaders said that they won the legislative elections held on September 26.
However, some people do not have a positive perception of the results. On the contrary, they warn that President Hugo Chavez can be defeated in 2012, when he is expected to seek a third consecutive presidential term.
El Universal (Venezuela)
September 28, 2010
Intelligence Service detains Spanish MEP in Venezuelan airport
Carlos Iturgaiz, a European Member of Parliament and international watcher in the parliamentary election reported that upon his arrival at the Simon Bolivar International Airport, [...] he was held for an hour and a half by agents of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (Sebin).
He said that a Sebin agent retained his passport for about two hours and finally an official of the Ministry of Justice gave him a speech on the creation of the Bolivarian spirit and explained to him the good results of the government system implemented in Venezuela.
"They retained my passport for telling the truth, for saying that elections were unfair for the opposition parties," Iturgaiz said.
El Universal (Venezuela)
September 29, 2010
Venezuela's government to speed up socialist model
As soon as he learned about the results of parliament election, President Hugo Chavez, rather than showing signs of correcting the course, hinted that he could strengthen the socialist model.
The current term of National Assembly lawmakers ends in three months. Only in January 2011, the candidates who were elected in the parliament election held on September 26 will take office. In the meantime, current Venezuelan congressmen are allowed a lot of leeway to make the required changes to further the socialist system. There are several pending bills related to the establishment of a leftist model such as regulations on labor, social ownership and workers' councils.
No matter the new scenario of a pluralistic National Assembly from January 2011; the Venezuelan President said on September 27 that his administration will follow its initial plan.
El Universal (Venezuela)
September 27, 2010
"The ruling party did not meet the goal to have a two-thirds qualified majority"
According to the results issued in the National Electoral Council's (CNE) initial bulletin, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and the Venezuelan Communist Party (PCV) won 95 of the 165 seats in the National Assembly, while the opposition coalition (Democratic Unified Panel) won at least 61 seats. Finally, former pro-government party Patria Para Todos (Fatherland for All, PPT), will have two legislators.
These preliminary results show that the ruling party did not meet the goal to have a two-thirds qualified majority (110 deputies) needed to appoint the Supreme Court justices, the Attorney General, the Ombudsman, the Comptroller General, the directors of the National Electoral Council (CNE) and to pass fundamental laws without reaching agreements with other political actors.
According to preliminary estimates, parties supporting President Hugo Chavez did not even reach the three-fifths majority (99 legislators) required under the Constitution to grant enabling powers to President Chavez to pass laws.
El Universal (Venezuela)
September 27, 2010
Venezuelan Political Satire
Hugo Chavez "lost the qualified majority in the National Assembly. Hence, he has time only until January [when the National Assembly will be sworn] to approve all possible laws."
