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Chavez eyes control of congress in elections
Source: Agencies |
September 27, 2010, Monday
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VENEZUELAN President Hugo Chavez was seeking to hold on to his dominant control of Venezuela's congress yesterday in elections that put his popularity to a critical test.
Voters lined up at polling stations before dawn after being awakened by recorded bugles blaring reveille from loudspeakers across Caracas. Chavez called for his supporters to turn out in large numbers, saying on Twitter: "Attack!"
The opposition has mounted a challenge to try to break Chavez's monopoly of power in the National Assembly for the first time in his nearly 12 years in the presidency.
"What's at stake is for there to be more democracy," said Stalin Gonzalez, a 29-year-old opposition candidate and former student protest leader. "The country needs a more balanced assembly."
Chavez's allies have had near total control since opposition parties boycotted the last legislative elections in 2005 citing concerns about possible irregularities. If Chavez's opponents manage to deny him at least a two-thirds majority this time, they would have more clout in trying to check his sweeping powers.
The vote is also seen as a referendum on Chavez himself ahead of the next presidential election in 2012.
Polls suggest he remains the most popular politician in Venezuela, yet surveys also have shown a decline in his popularity in the past two years as disenchantment has grown over problems including rampant crime, poorly administered public services and inflation now hovering at 30 percent.
"We want a total change," said Dieter Jaaniorg, a 31-year-old auto parts seller who was the first of dozens in line at a Caracas polling station.
He said he is fed up with crime, a bad economy and an authoritarian government.
His younger brother, Cristian, said they both see it as a last chance for the opposition to show it can stand up to Chavez. "If we don't win today, it's straight to communism," he said.
Voters lined up at polling stations before dawn after being awakened by recorded bugles blaring reveille from loudspeakers across Caracas. Chavez called for his supporters to turn out in large numbers, saying on Twitter: "Attack!"
The opposition has mounted a challenge to try to break Chavez's monopoly of power in the National Assembly for the first time in his nearly 12 years in the presidency.
"What's at stake is for there to be more democracy," said Stalin Gonzalez, a 29-year-old opposition candidate and former student protest leader. "The country needs a more balanced assembly."
Chavez's allies have had near total control since opposition parties boycotted the last legislative elections in 2005 citing concerns about possible irregularities. If Chavez's opponents manage to deny him at least a two-thirds majority this time, they would have more clout in trying to check his sweeping powers.
The vote is also seen as a referendum on Chavez himself ahead of the next presidential election in 2012.
Polls suggest he remains the most popular politician in Venezuela, yet surveys also have shown a decline in his popularity in the past two years as disenchantment has grown over problems including rampant crime, poorly administered public services and inflation now hovering at 30 percent.
"We want a total change," said Dieter Jaaniorg, a 31-year-old auto parts seller who was the first of dozens in line at a Caracas polling station.
He said he is fed up with crime, a bad economy and an authoritarian government.
His younger brother, Cristian, said they both see it as a last chance for the opposition to show it can stand up to Chavez. "If we don't win today, it's straight to communism," he said.
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