2005 Venezuelan parliamentary election

2005 Venezuelan parliamentary election
Republic of Venezuela
← 2000 4 December 2005 2010 →

All 167 seats in the National Assembly
84 seats needed for a majority
Turnout25.26
Party Leader Vote % Seats
MVR and allies Hugo Chávez 85.49 164
MUPI 0.31 1
FIOPP 0.27 1
AMANSA 1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Results by constituency and party-list vote by state.
President of the NA before President of the NA
Nicolás Maduro
PSUV
Cilia Flores
PSUV

Parliamentary elections were held in Venezuela on 4 December 2005 to elect the 167 deputies to the National Assembly of Venezuela, twelve deputies to the Latin American Parliament and five deputies to the Andean Parliament. Several days prior to the elections, five opposition parties unexpectedly withdrew, shortly after a dispute over the voting process had apparently been resolved with the support of the Organization of American States (OAS). The opposition had been expected to get around a third of the Assembly seats, or even less; the withdrawal meant the opposition were scarcely represented in the parliament at all, as the opposition parties which did not withdraw failed to win any seats. 114 seats went to the President's Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) – up from 86,[1] with the remaining 53 going to "smaller pro-Chávez parties as well as to independents and representatives of some social groups that support the government".[2]

Both the Organization of American States (OAS) and the European Union sent delegations to observe the elections.[2] In the runup to the election, there were concerns about the use of digital fingerprint scanners as part of the voting process. On 28 November the National Electoral Council (CNE), in a decision brokered by the OAS, announced that it would not use the controversial machines. Several days later five opposition parties withdrew from the elections.[2]

Both the EU and the OAS noted a widespread distrust of the National Electoral Council. "The OAS delegation noted that there remains a distrust of the CNE on the part of a significant segment of the population in terms of the origin and composition of the CNE and the perception that its actions lack transparency and impartiality."[2] The OAS recommended democratic discussion of various aspects of the electoral process to improve trust in the system.

The election proceeded largely without incident, although three small bombs were exploded in Caracas, injuring one police officer.[1]

  1. ^ a b The Washington Post, 5 December 2005, Chavez Allies Are Poised To Solidify Their Majority
  2. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference CRS was invoked but never defined (see the help page).