December 5, 2005
Venezuela's ruling coalition, has won all 167 seats in the National Assembly elections

(World News Australia) - "Venezuela's ruling coalition, led by President Hugo Chávez, said it has won all 167 seats in the National Assembly in legislative elections largely boycotted by the opposition.

William Lara, who heads President Hugo Chávez's Fifth Republic Movement, said his party will control 114 seats as a result of the vote, with the rest going to parties that support the president.

He insisted that after January 5, when the new legislature is inaugurated, Venezuela will still have a 'multi-party National Assembly, which will include various civic groups and independent deputies.'

The National Electoral Council earlier said only about 25 percent of 12 million registered voters cast their ballot, after main opposition parties including Democratic Action and COPEI boycotted the poll after accusing electoral authorities of favouring the populist leader and manipulating electronic voting machines.

However Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Electoral Council, explained the low turnout as due to "torrential rains that have prevented voters from getting to polling places."

"The voting went ahead with absolute normality," he said. "We can say the Venezuelans have expressed their opinion today as established by the Constitution."

Hundreds of foreign election monitors from the European Union and the Organisation of American States declared the vote legitimate, however opposition groups said there were plenty of irregularities.

One complaint was that electronic voting machines used in Sunday's vote could record fingerprints, allowing authorities to know how each person voted, although election officials agreed to switch that feature off.