Chavez allies lose edge in Venezuela’s congress

— Opponents of Hugo Chavez won new clout to try to rein in a socialist leader who has ruled largely unchecked, making gains in congressional elections that weaken the president ahead of his next re-election bid and could force him to deal with rivals.

Both sides claimed the results released Monday as a victory, but Chavez lost the two-thirds majority that has allowed his allies to ignore opponents in rewriting fundamental laws, appointing key officials such as Supreme Court justices and letting Chavez pass laws by decree.

Opposition leaders said they intend to start imposing some checks on Chavez in the National Assembly and hope the president is receptive to dialogue.

While his opponents celebrated the results of Sunday’s vote, Chavez dismissed their claims that it was significant setback for him.

“Keep beating me like that,” Chavez said with a laugh at a news conference. “The revolutionary forces obtained a very important victory.”

Chavez said his candidates won about 5.4 million votes, against 5.3 million for opposition candidates. The opposition had claimed early Monday that according to their tally they garnered a majority of votes - suspicions fed by the fact that electoral officials had not released total popular vote tallies.

Chavez accused the opposition of lying about the results and suggested they were “local elections” with results that wouldn’t necessarily mirror a presidential vote.

Still, the opposition’s strong showing suggests it could mount a serious challenge to Chavez as he seeks re-election in 2012.

Chavez dared his adversaries to try to oust him through a recall referendum if they think they have so much support. “Why are you going to wait two years?” he said.

Electoral officials said Chavez’s socialist party won 98 of the 165 seats in the National Assembly, while the opposition coalition won 65 seats. The remaining 2 seats went to a splinter left-leaning party.

Opposition politicians have complained they would have won more seats if it weren’t for a new system of congressional districts stacked in Chavez’s favor. They say the recent electoral changes drawn up by the Chavista-controlled National Assembly gerrymandered some districts by redrawing boundaries and gave heavier representation to rural areas where the president is most popular.

While the opposition fell short of its hopes of a congressional majority, newly elected lawmakers promised to bring numerous voices to the legislature to examine Chavez’s policies as he campaigns to transform Venezuela into a socialist state.

Front Section, Pages 2 on 09/28/2010

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