The governing party of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has swept parliamentary and regional elections boycotted the opposition.
The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and its allies won 82.68% of the votes cast the previous Monday for seats in the National Assembly, preliminary figures published by the National Electoral Council (CNE) on Monday revealed.
That outcome guarantees the party will keep control of important levers of power, including the top court in the nation whose members are chosen by the 285-seat assembly and the attorney general’s office.
CNE further mentioned that the government marked a loss for the opposition, who formerly controlled four states, won twenty-three of 24 state governor posts.
Out of 21 million eligible voters, turn-out in the elections was 8.9 million, or almost 42 percent. Chief Carlos Quintero of CNE observed that this was the same level as in the elections of 2021.
On protest over July’s 2024 presidential election, the country’s top opposition leaders had advised citizens to refuse the ballot. Authorities pronounced Maduro the winner although the opposition maintains it won that race.
