Chavez party wins majority in Congress

The ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela led by President Hugo Chavez has won a majority in the 165-seat Venezuelan Congress, reports say.

According to Reuters, Chavez’s ruling party won a majority in parliament, but the opposition surpassed the crucial one third of the seats, Venezuelan electoral authorities said on Monday.

With the vast majority of votes counted, Chavez’s party won at least 90 of the 165 seats, while the opposition coalition won nearly 60 seats, National Electoral Council president Tibisay Lucena said early Monday, AP reported.

The initial results were released eight hours after the polls were closed on Sunday.

Losing the two-third majority in the National Congress prevents pro-Chavez lawmakers from rewriting laws unopposed and appointing the country’s officials, including Supreme Court justices and members of the electoral council.

Before the vote, the opposition criticized an election law passed by Chavez’s allies which gave greater weight to votes in rural areas, where the president remains more popular to the detriment of certain other legislative districts where the opponents had greater public support.

Ramon Guillermo Aveledo, leader of the opposition coalition, called the delayed results in some areas “inadmissible.”

He said the delayed results were related to the areas where the majority of votes were dominated by the opposition. Aveledo demanded electoral authorities give details on those results before dawn.