Venezuela's opposition governors find legislative obstacles in their way

In the wake of the gubernatorial election held in Venezuela on December 16, reelected opposition governors Henrique Capriles Radonski (Miranda state) and Henry Falcón (Lara state) will lead their regions with opposition inside the legislative councils (CLE) as they lost their majority in the parliaments of their states.

How come Capriles Radonski did not win the CLE if he obtained 52% of the votes? Was there crossover voting between governors and the legislative council? Miranda's CLE consist of 15 deputies (12 nominal deputies and three elected by list). Ahead of December 16 vote, the National Electoral Council (CNE) divided Miranda State in eight electoral districts (where 12 nominal legislators of the CLE would be elected).

Opposition parties obtained the majority of the votes in the second electoral district (Los Salias and Carrizal municipalities), where a nominal legislator is elected; in the third electoral district (municipalities of El Hatillo, Baruta, Chacao, and parish Leoncio Martínez, of Sucre municipality), where two nominal legislators are chosen; and in the fourth electoral district (parishes La Dolorita, and Petare, municipality of Sucre, both of which chose two nominal legislators. In these three electoral districts, the opposition obtained five nominal legislators, which must be accompanied by two (out of three) legislators elected by list. They are elected through the D'Hondt method.

Consequently, while the opposition obtained seven out of 15 deputies, the ruling party obtained eight, after winning electoral districts 1, 5, 6, 7, and 8, in addition to one out of the three legislators elected by list.

The situation is similar to that of Henry Falcón, who obtained some 54.66% of the votes, yet since the state was divided into eight electoral districts, pro-Chávez candidates ended up obtaining the majority of the nominal legislators of the state.

Only in the case of Amazonas state, the elected governor will be relying on a majority in the regional parliament. Although the results for the constituency 2 have not been announced yet, the opposition has already secured four out of seven members in the CLE.

emartinez@eluniversal.com

Translated by Jhean Cabrera