Chavez party enjoys strong lead

Results of Venezuela’s elections indicate a strong lead for Chavez’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which so far has gained a total of 95 seats.

The official vote count from Sunday’s elections shows that PSUV has won 95 seats, while the opposition Democratic Unity Table (MUD) gained 63 seats, and the leftist Homeland For Everyone (PPT) won two in the 165-seat National Assembly, al-Jazeera reported.

More specifically, PSUV won 5,422,040 of the votes while the MUD — a broad coalition of opposition parties — won 5,320,175. PPT received 520,000 votes.

While Chavez’s PSUV retained a majority in the National Assembly, it failed to obtain the two thirds majority of 110 seats needed to pass major laws or make appointments to the Supreme Court and electoral authorities without the support of opposition parties, the Independent reported.

MUD leaders claim that gerrymandering, which had given more voter weight to rural districts known to be supporters of Chavez, resulted in the PSUV receiving a disproportionately high number of seats in the National Assembly, The Guardian stated.

Some analysts have estimated the opposition’s tally at 49.6 percent; whereas MUD claims it has received 52 percent of the popular vote.

In 2005, opposition parties boycotted the elections, resulting in the overwhelming majority of Chavez’s PSUV party.