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El Universal, Dec. 7, 2015
CARACAS — Venezuelans congratulated themselves for what several officials described as an “exemplary” election, without violence or widespread accusations of fraud. The ballot Sunday saw the liberal opposition to President Nicolas Maduro took 99 of 167 parliamentary seats in a provisional vote count, with the ruling, socialist PSUV party winning 46 seats.
Opposition daily El Universal called it a “democratic party.”
The provisional tally exceeded a simple majority of 84 seats, and opposition politicians were hoping they could finally win more than 110 seats in the next legislature, allowing them to make sweeping political changes, El Universal reported Monday.
In spite of fears he might defy results of a defeat, President Nicolás Maduro recognized the “adverse results” and attributed it to a “perfect” electoral system; he said the elections were a “triumph” of the country’s democracy.
The opposition coalition’s Executive Secretary, Jesús Torrealba, said their victory was “thunderous” and a new “cycle” of “unity” was starting for Venezuela.
“We won’t persecute those who think differently from us. The constitution will be our … compass,” another opposition daily El Nacional reported him as saying. At the rally in Caracas where Torrealba spoke, crowds were chanting “Yes we did,” (Sí se pudo), reminiscent of President Barack Obama’s Yes We Can slogan.