More big parties join Venezuela ballot boycott: official

Venezuelan’s major opposition groups edged closer Tuesday to an all-out boycott of an upcoming presidential election, warning the vote won’t be free or fair.

In a further potential blow to the opposition, a senior official in the ruling socialist party proposed early elections for Venezuela’s oppositioncontrolled congress as well, cutting its term short by more than a year.

Opposition lawmaker Edgar Zambrano told The Associated Press that his Democratic Action party and two other movements made the decision to boycott. That brings to four major opposition parties have decided they won’t put a candidate up against President Nicolas Maduro.

It remained unclear whether the entire coalition of opposition candidates will sit out April 22’s presidential election in protest. Some warn abstention would be a mistake, ceding power to Maduro unchallenged for another six-year term.

The Democratic Unity alliance made up of some 20 parties has yet to take a unified position.

“This election is winnable and it could be won,’’ said economist Francisco Rodriguez, an adviser to potential opposition candidate Henri Falcon, who was believed to be still considering an independent run but declined to make an announcement Tuesday. “There is really no alternative for the opposition.’’