Chavez's ruling party wins, but loses some power (2nd Roundup)

Sep 27, 2010, 18:24 GMT

Caracas - The ruling party led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez failed to obtain the two-thirds majority that was their goal in Sunday's legislative election.

When the new legislature take shapes in January, they will have to share the unicameral National Assembly with the opposition, which had boycotted the 2005 legislative election but changed tactics this time.

Both sides were celebrating Monday.

According to the latest official results issued Monday, Chavez's United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) won at least 95 seats in the 165-seat unicameral National Assembly. The opposition coalition Table for Democratic Union got at least 61 seats, with two seats going to other opposition candidates and seven seats still undecided.

Chavez had made it clear that he wanted a two-thirds supermajority to be able to change substantial legislation on the path to his so- called 21st-century socialism.

Despite the ruling party's clear majority in seats, the opposition claimed 52 per cent of the national popular vote, according to data that were not immediately confirmed by the National Electoral Council.

Sunday's election was widely seen as a referendum on the populist Chavez and his declared path to socialism, and the popular vote data can be interpreted as an early sign for Chavez's 2012 re-election bid.

His popularity has slipped amid rocketing inflation, economic stagnation and rising crime rates.

On his Twitter feed, Chavez, who has held the presidency since February 1999, described the win as 'enough to keep deepening Democratic Bolivarian Socialism.'

'A new victory for the people,' he tweeted.

Yet, the outspoken Chavez failed to address his supporters directly from a balcony of the government palace.

Ramon Guillermo Aveledo, spokesman for the opposition coalition Table for Democratic Union, denounced the 'perversion' which allowed the ruling party a large majority of seats despite getting a minority of the vote.

The preliminary official results had been expected soon after polling stations closed but were not forthcoming for more than eight hours.

With electronic voting in place nationally, opposition leaders said the delay was unacceptable.

Earlier, he had slammed electoral authorities for withholding preliminary results longer than necessary. 'We are waiting in order to abide by the law,' Aveledo said. 'They already know what happened. We already know what happened.'

Still, Aveledo celebrated the election result and described it as 'a defeat for those who preach war among Venezuelans.'

About 17.5 million voters were registered for the elections, which ended without major incident. The National Electoral Council put the turnout at around 66.5 per cent.

Some polling stations remained open past the official deadline to allow people already waiting in line to cast ballots.