Chavistas restore political control

CARACAS: The Venezuelan government is again in the driver’s seat, with the political opposition seeming to retreat after four months of relentless anti-government protests, political observers have said.

The newly-elected National Constituent Assembly tasked to rewrite the constitution is rolling up its sleeves to tackle the country’s economic problems.

Meanwhile, the opposition-controlled National Assembly (Congress) has taken a back seat.

At the same time, former prosecutor general Luisa Ortega, one of the government’s most vocal critics, has fled across the border, where she may continue to campaign against President Nicolas Maduro’s administration, but from a distance.

The sizeable turnout of voters – more than 8 million – in July to elect Assembly members appears to have reinvigorated the government.

Maryclein Stelling, a sociologist and political observer, said the government was able to take advantage of the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD)’s “structural weakness”, or disunity, and lack of a clear political platform.

Unable to unseat the president, the MUD is now labouring under a “sense of failure” that is undermining its leadership, Stelling said.

“The MUD bet everything it had on taking control of the streets and staying there, it had no other project to offer its followers,” said Stelling.

Having failed to topple Maduro, “the leadership has been defeated, and that leads to an atmosphere of negativity within the opposition”, said Stelling, who was also former director of the Romulo Gallegos Centre for Latin American Studies.

The coalition of opposition parties is finding it more difficult to join forces for regional elections, where they are looking to compete.

“Calling for regional elections served as a trap for the MUD, because its internal divisions, which have always existed, are growing and expanding,” said Stelling.

Emiro Romero, president of polling firm Buro Consulting, believes the opposition “misread” public sentiment towards the ruling party.

The MUD underestimated the power of the government and the political current known as “chavismo”, which champions the ideals of the late revolutionary leader Hugo Chavez, he said.

Romero said that, after months of violent protests, morale among the MUD is low and the opposition will face a struggle to recover.