Opposition leader Jesus Torrealba delivered a victory speech in Caracas flanked by key members of the opposition coalition. The coalition won 99 seats in the National Assembly, while the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela won 46 seats. Another 22 seats have yet to be declared. Photo courtesy of
Mesa de la Unidad Democrática
CARACAS, Venezuela, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Venezuela's Democratic Unity Roundtable, or MUD, opposition coalition defeated the ruling socialist party in parliamentary elections widely considered a referendum on President Nicolás Maduro.
Venezuela's National Electoral Council, or CNE, announced early Monday the MUD won 99 seats in the country's National Assembly -- a simple majority. Maduro's ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela, or PSUV, won 46 seats in the 167-seat unicameral parliament.
Another 22 seats have yet to be declared -- meaning the MUD has a strong chance of winning a qualified majority, or supermajority, if it acquires the 111 seats needed.
National Assembly members are elected to five-year terms. Voter turnout was nearly 75 percent, the highest for parliamentary elections in decades.
Moments after CNE President Tibisay Lucena announced the election results, Maduro held a televised address to admit defeat.
"We have come with our morals and our ethics to recognize these adverse results, to accept them and to say to our Venezuela that the constitution and democracy have triumphed," Maduro said. "We have lost a battle today, but the struggle to build a new society is just beginning."
The vast majority of Venezuela's voting process is electronic and is considered trustworthy by election monitors, including The Carter Center. Although the PSUV has often been accused of various degrees of electoral fraud in previous elections, there have been no reports of significant voter intimidation or fraud yet in this election.
Both the PSVU and the MUD hailed Venezuela's successful electoral process and said any irregularities in polls were not representative of the election as a whole.
About 85 percent of people in Venezuela are dissatisfied with the status of the country, up from 57 percent soon after former President Hugo Chavez died, a recent study by the Pew Research Center indicates. Eight percent of Venezuelans aged 18 to 29 are happy with the country's condition, compared to 21 percent of Venezuelans aged 50 and older.
"The results are as we hoped. Venezuela has won. It's irreversible," said Henrique Capriles, a key opposition leader who unsuccessfully ran presidential campaigns against Chavez and Maduro. "Nicolas definitely did not understand what occurred today in our Venezuela and what our people said with your vote. The country wants change!"
Inflation is seen as Venezuela's most significant issue, rated by 92 percent of Venezuelans as a problem. The South American country has one of the fastest annual inflation rates in the world, estimated between at least 80 percent to far more than 120 percent. Food shortages have also contributed to growing discontent.
