Venezuela’s Chavez Says Time to Prepare for 2010 Parliamentary Elections

Mérida, September 20th, 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com) - During a meeting on Saturday with the ministers' council, made up of governors, ministers and vice-presidents, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said winning two thirds of the National Assembly in the elections for that entity next year was of "of high revolutionary priority" in order to be able to fully continue the Bolivarian Revolution.

The opposition boycotted the last National Assembly elections in December 2005, with the result that all 167 seats went to parties who at the time supported the Chavez government.

Legislators serve five-year terms, so elections are expected late next year. Chavez said that in light of the opposition campaign to win such positions, it was urgent the council members orient all their efforts towards the upcoming electoral battle.

"[The opposition] is going to exploit the inefficiencies of the government to the maximum and they're going to intensify the media battle from inside and outside [the country] and the work of this government is to beat them yet again, they're putting themselves in the barrios, trying to organise articulated movements [there]," Chavez said.

"The opposition will try to win a majority in the National Assembly by any means possible, we know they're capable of anything, buying people, blackmail, and cheating."

Chavez warned that one of the first things the opposition would do, were it to win a majority in the assembly, would be to enact a law prohibiting the medical practice of the Cuban doctors.

On Thursday Chavez made some changes to the ministers' council to include six vice-presidents to take charge of defence, politics, finance, production, social issues, and territorial development. Chavez said the council should be a political entity and not merely an administrative entity.

Published on Sep 20th 2009 at 7.45pm