Qatar- Venezuela Opposition Won Majority of National Assembly Seats

12/7/2015 7:36:15 AM

(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Caracas December 07 (QNA) - Venezuela’s opposition alliance won at least simple majority in Congress for the first time in 16 years in Sunday’s elections as an unprecedented recession and a collapse in the bolivar turned voters against the populist policies of President Nicolas Maduro.
The opposition alliance gained at least 99 seats out of the 167 up for grabs in the National Assembly while the government’s ruling socialist party took at least 46 seats electoral council president Tibisay Lucena said early Monday on state television. A total of 22 seats are still to be awarded Lucena said.
The vote represents a rejection of the policies that have seen hundreds of companies seized by the state fueling the world’s fastest inflation and stoking shortages of essential items. It remains to be seen if the seats yet to be assigned would give the opposition a qualified majority of three-fifths or two-thirds that would give them increased powers to challenge Maduro.
Participation in the election was 74.25 percent Lucena said. The new lawmakers will take their seats on January 5.
Maduro who spoke on state television after the numbers were released acknowledged what he said were "adverse results." Venezuela’s economy is expected to contract 10 percent this year by the International Monetary Fund while economists polled by Bloomberg see inflation of about 124 percent. (QNA)

Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.