Venezuela’s Maduro Wins Election Boycotted

Venezuelan President Maduro’s party wins parliamentary and regional elections boycotted by opposition, sparking international concern.

Venezuela’s ruling socialist party held its significant majority in the National Assembly in a Sunday election, winning nearly 83% of votes according to the electoral authority, in a contest boycotted by some opposition leaders amid deep division among parties opposed to the government of President Nicolas Maduro, AFP reported.

Some of the country’s major opposition leaders called for voters to abstain in protest of the official results of the July 2024 presidential election, which the opposition says it won but which authorities say was a Maduro victory.

Sunday’s legislative results will keep the ruling party in control of the attorney general’s office and the top court, whose members are elected by lawmakers.

Authorities did not give a total number of seats which will be held by each party, but named 40 lawmakers from various parties who have won seats.

A coalition considered close to the ruling socialist party won 6.25% of the vote, while an opposition alliance won 5.17%, National Electoral Council (CNE) rector Carlos Quintero said in a declaration broadcast on state television.

Turnout to choose 24 state governors and 285 lawmakers was 42.6% of 21 million eligible voters, Quintero said, similar to the turnout in the 2021 elections.

Opposition candidates won just one governorship, in the state of Cojedes, west of the capital Caracas, down from the four won by opposition parties in 2021.

Opposition leaders Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez called on supporters to abstain from Sunday’s vote in protest at the official version of the 2024 election results and what they and rights groups say is a brutal crackdown on the opposition, including detentions this week.

Machado, Gonzalez and their Vente Venezuela coalition posted photos throughout the day of what they said were empty polling stations around the country, even as the government extended voting hours, saying turnout was high.

Meanwhile, another opposition faction headed by two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles and Zulia state governor Manuel Rosales, urged people to vote to avoid the opposition being cut out of all governance.