Maduro claims landslide win in state elections
Caracas, Oct. 16: President Nicolas Maduro’s government won a landslide victory in closely watched regional elections in Venezuela, according to official results that the opposition said were “suspicious.”
Mr Maduro’s socialist party on Monday won governorships of 17 of the 23 states with the opposition Democratic Union Roundtable (MUD) coalition taking only five, according to the results announced by the National Elections Council.
The official turnout was 61.14 per cent.
Mr Maduro said his government had scored an “emphatic victory” over its rivals.
“The opposition has five,” Mr Maduro underscored in a speech to supporters, adding that his party could win one further state where the results were still in dispute.
Public opinion surveys had predicted that the opposition would win a majority of state governorships despite alleged government dirty tricks to suppress a high turnout.
Monday’s vote came against the backdrop of an International Monetary Fund report in which it sees Venezuela’s economic downturn, and the suffering of its population, continuing.
International powers accuse Mr Maduro of dismantling democracy by taking over state institutions in the wake of an economic collapse caused by a fall in the price of oil, its main source of revenue.
Monday’s polls were the first contested by the opposition since legislative elections in 2015 that gave it a majority in the National Assembly.
— AFP