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Caribbean-Latin America |
Chavez promised clean elections |
2005-11-30 |
Cleaning up the ballot by getting rid of all those messy opposition parties. Insisting that congressional elections will be conducted fairly, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is accusing the opposition of trying to derail the vote by pulling out just days before it's to take place. Two opposition parties withdrew Tuesday from the elections, saying conditions were biased toward allies of the leftist Chavez. A third party threatened to boycott unless the vote scheduled for Sunday is postponed to ensure fairness. The Venezuelan leader, who is a Jimmy Carter agrees. So that settles it. The defections boost Chavez's chances of winning the two-thirds congressional majority he needs to Currently, pro-Chavez lawmakers hold 52 percent of the 165-seat National Assembly. The defectors - major opposition party Democratic Action and the smaller Project Venezuela - together hold 30 seats. The Social Christian Party, or Copei, which has threatened to boycott, holds six. Democratic Action and Copei long dominated national politics before Chavez's meteoric rise to power in 1998 elections. The centrist parties differ little in ideology and are united in their fierce opposition to Chavez, who says he is leading a socialist revolution to The parties' influence has been flagging, and recent polls show Chavez has a nearly 70 percent public approval ratings. There was a book out, called The perfect Latin American Idiot. |
Posted by:Jackal |
#1 "Chavez promised clean elections" Uh-huh. And I promised to lose 50 pounds overnight. Guess which one of us is more likely to deliver. :-( |
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-11-30 21:39 |