September 22, 2005
Postulations to the National Assembly increased by 112%

(El Nacional) - "December elections will have a significant increase in the amount of postulants: 2.399 for the National Assembly and the Andean and Latin American Parliament.

However, there are only 167 places and 167 reserve places in the Assembly, 5 in the Andean Parliament and 12 in the Latin American Parliament, for a total of 351 places without counting the reserves of the international parliaments.

This shows an increase by 112% compared to the same process in year 2000, meaning that 1.266 more Venezuelans are competing for a place. Last time, there were 1.133 postulants. This increase in the participation was highlighted by Jorge Rodríguez, President of the National Elections Council, when he presented a preliminary report after the postulations closed (...)

'These results evidence the strong and participating democracy of the Venezuelan people and their credibility in the electoral system', he said (...)".