“I feel at peace with my conscience because everything we have done has been for the protection of the country”, Maduro said in the national address.
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The opposition coalition’s Executive Secretary, Jesús Torrealba, said their victory was “thunderous” and a new “cycle” of “unity” was starting for Venezuela.
Stephen Gibbs, political analyst for The Economist magazine in Caracas, told Anadolu Agency that the “simple majority” result “would probably be the best outcome” as “it will force negotiations between an opposition-controlled National Assembly and the Chavistas“, he said, referring to supporters of Chavez’s brand of socialism.
President of Venezuela and leader of the PSUV, Nicolas Maduro, moved immediately on national television to accept the results – the most debilitating defeat for the ruling Chavista government since it came to power in 1999.
The head of Venezuela’s electoral authority announced the results early Monday. The economic crisis has worsened with this year’s slump in oil revenue, which funds nearly all public spending.
Mr Maduro says his party defends the interests of ordinary Venezuelans and wants to complete Mr Chavez’s “Bolivarian Revolution”. “I’ve said we’ll take the fight to the streets, but maybe I was wrong”. Foreshadowing the historic win, several ruling party governors were caught on film braving boos and insults as they entered their polling places. While even moderates pledged to use their new leverage to pass an amnesty for opponents jailed during last year’s protests, putting food on the table is the priority for most Venezuelans.
Venezuela’s opposition won the most seats in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, paving the way for a strong challenge to President Nicolas Maduro in the next presidential election in 2019.
The result could also embolden government foes to seek a recall election against Maduro in 2016 if they garner the almost 4 million signatures needed to trigger the referendum.
Opposition daily El Universal called it a “democratic party”.
The opposition, with little cash and little access to broadcast media, has struggled to compete in far-flung rural districts against the government’s campaign machine.
Given the past two decades of near-victories, electoral fraud, chicanery and fractious political opposition mistakes, many Venezuelans are still in disbelief at the scale of the victory in the nation’s legislative elections, which have decisively handed one of Venezuela’s leading governing bodies over to the democratic, pro-free-market opposition.
“I’ve only ever known one government”.
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Information for this article was contributed by Fabiola Sanchez and Jorge Rueda of The Associated Press.
