Foes in disarray, Chavez sails into Congress vote

Venezuelans vote Sunday in legislative elections that could lead to populist President Hugo Chavez tightening his grip on power.

By Patrick Markey
Reuters
December 1, 2005

Three main opposition parties, who pulled out in disarray Tuesday, have had a hard time competing with Chavez and his decision to spend billions in oil revenues on health and education for the poor.

Most polls show the former paratrooper is the country's most popular leader as the country heads toward presidential elections in December 2006.

The boycott will likely allow pro-Chavez lawmakers to win the majority they need to push through constitutional reforms critics fear will make the left-wing leader more powerful.

"It is clear now the government will get over two-thirds of the National Assembly, perhaps more," said Luis Vicente Leon, director of local polling firm Datanalisis. "This is a disaster for the opposition."

Confident of victory, pro-Chavez lawmakers say they want to begin working on constitutional reforms starting next year that would put an end to limits on presidential elections and take more state control over the Central Bank.

Chavez has already pushed through a constitutional reform that extended his power. In December 1999, Venezuelans voted to approve a constitution that lengthened the presidential term from five to six years and allowed standing presidents to run for one re-election.

OPPOSITION PULLS OUT

Democratic Action, the largest opposition party with 23 deputies in the 165-seat chamber, and two other parties with a total of 13 seats withdrew after accusing election officials of favoring Chavez and demanded guarantees for a fair ballot.

They had accused the National Electoral Council, which oversees elections, of inflating the voter registry with false names and tampering with the voting machines in the last referendum. International observers said they found no evidence of fraud in that vote.

Chavez, an ally of Cuba who has become one of Washington's fiercest critics, blasted the opposition withdrawal late Tuesday as U.S.-backed propaganda meant to strip the vote of its legitimacy and stoke political tensions against his government.

The withdrawal has underscored the trouble opposition parties have faced to drum up support and overcome deep divisions since Chavez won a referendum last year with more than 60 percent of the votes.

"I'm not going to vote. I can't trust the electoral council. Chavez hasn't convinced me because I look at deeds not words, but neither has the opposition," said storekeeper Sandra Correia as a candidate campaigned in her Caracas neighborhood.

A charismatic former soldier hailed by supporters as a champion of the poor, Chavez has overshadowed the fractured opposition in a lackluster campaign for a total of 167 Congress seats up for election on Dec. 4.

Opposition parties, a mixed bag of small left-wing parties and traditional center-rightists, hold 79 seats in the 165-seat chamber. Chavez's Fifth Republic Movement is the largest party with 69 seats. Two seats were added since the last election.

Two main opposition parties, Movement Towards Socialism with 11 seats and Justice First with 5 deputies, say so far they will go to the vote. They suggest electoral safeguards have improved since the referendum, including a broader audit and an observation team sent by the European Union.

"We don't win anything with abstention," said Justice First candidate Carlos Oscariz as he stumped at the weekend in a poor east Caracas neighborhood. "There are more guarantees for the vote now and that's why we are fighting."