Politics of Venezuela
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Politics of Venezuela takes place in a framework of a federal republic, whereby the President of Venezuela is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the President. Legislative power is vested in the National Assembly. The Constitution designates three additional branches of the federal government--the judicial, citizen, and electoral branches.
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[edit] Overview
Current President Hugo Chavez was elected in December 1998 on a platform that called for the creation of a National Constituent Assembly in order to write a new Constitution. The political system described below is that defined by the 1999 Constitution, which was approved by popular referendum in 1999 and first came into force on 30 December 1999. Chávez was reelected in December 2006.
[edit] Executive branch
| Office | Name | Party | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Venezuelan president | Hugo Chávez Frias | MVR | 2 February 1999 |
The president is elected by a plurality vote with direct and universal suffrage. The term of office is six years, and a president may be re-elected to two consecutive terms. The president appoints the vice president. He decides the size and composition of the cabinet and makes appointments to it with the involvement of the National Assembly. Legislation can be initiated by the executive branch, the legislative branch (either a committee of the National Assembly or three members of the latter), the judicial branch, the citizen branch (ombudsman, public prosecutor, and controller general) or a public petition signed by no fewer than 0.1% of registered voters. The president can ask the National Assembly to reconsider portions of laws he finds objectionable, but a simple majority of the Assembly can override these objections.
[edit] Legislative branch
The formerly bicameral Venezuelan legislature was transformed by the 1999 constitution into a Unicameral National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional. The National Assembly has 167 seats overall, and members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms, and may be re-elected for a maximum of two additional terms. These legislative agents are elected by a combination of party list and single member constituencies. Three Assembly seats are by law reserved for the indigenous peoples of Venezuela. National Assembly elections were last held on 30 July 2005. When the National Assembly is not in session, its delegated committee acts on matters relating to the executive and in oversight functions.
[edit] Judicial branch
The judicial branch is headed by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, which may meet either in specialized chambers (of which there are six) or in plenary session. The justices are appointed by the National Assembly and serve 12-year terms. The judicial branch also consists of lower courts, including district courts, municipal courts, and courts of first instance.
Venezuela abolished the death penalty in 1863, making it the country where this practice has been outlawed the longest.[1][2]
[edit] Citizens branch
The citizens branch consists of three components — the prosecutor general ("fiscal general"), the "defender of the people" or ombudsman, and the controller general. The holders of these offices, in addition to fulfilling their specific functions, also act collectively as the "Republican Moral Council" to challenge before the Supreme Tribunal actions they believe are illegal, particularly those which violate the Constitution. The holders of the "citizen power" offices are selected for terms of 7 years by the National Assembly.
[edit] Political parties and 2006 presidential and 2005 parliamentary elections
The National Electoral Council is responsible for organizing elections at all levels. Its members are also elected to seven-year terms by the National Assembly.
With 32,472 electoral tally sheets processed (98.29%), the 12 December 2006 partial report from the CNE showed the following results:
| Candidates | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Hugo Chávez (Fifth Republic Movement) | 7,309,080 | 62.84% |
| Manuel Rosales (A New Era) | 4,292,466 | 36.9% |
| Luis Reyes | 4,807 | 0.04% |
| Venezuela Da Silva | 3,980 | 0.03% |
| Carmelo Romano Pérez | 3,735 | 0.03% |
| Alejandro Suárez | 2,956 | 0.02% |
| Eudes Vera | 2,806 | 0.02% |
| Carolina Contreras | 2,169 | 0.01% |
| Pedro Aranguren | 2,064 | 0.01% |
| José Tineo | 1,502 | 0.01% |
| Yudith Salazar | 1,355 | 0.01% |
| Ángel Yrigoyen | 1,316 | 0.01% |
| Homer Rodríguez | 1,123 | 0% |
| Isbelia León | 793 | 0% |
| Total (Turnout 74.69 %) | 11,790,397 | 100.0 |
| Source: CNE[3]: null votes: 160,245 (1.35% of all votes) | ||
Turnout: 11,729,158 voters (74.75% of the registered to vote), null votes: 159,377 (1.35% of all votes).
| Parties | Votes for List | % | Seats (From list and nominal) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fifth Republic Movement (Movimiento V [Quinta] República) | 2,041,293 | 60.0 | 116 |
| For Social Democracy (Por la Democracia Social) | 277,482 | 8.2 | 18 |
| Fatherland for All (Patria para Todos) | 197,459 | 6.8 | 10 |
| Communist Party of Venezuela (Partido Comunista de Venezuela) | 94,606 | 2.7 | 7 |
| LAGO | 61,789 | 1.8 | 2 |
| Venezuelan Popular Unity (Unidad Popular Venezolana) | 46,232 | 1.4 | 1 |
| Tupamaro | 42,893 | 1.2 | 0 |
| People's Electoral Movement (Movimiento Electoral del Pueblo) | 38,690 | 1.1 | 1 |
| Independents for National Community (Independientes por la Comunidad Nacional) | 30,041 | 0.8 | 0 |
| Everybody Wins Independent Movement (Movimiento Independiente Ganamos Todos) | 25,710 | 0.8 | 1 |
| MOBARE 200-4F (Mobare 200-4F) | 22,995 | 0.7 | 0 |
| Civil Militant Movement (Movimiento Cívico Militantes) | 21,012 | 0.6 | 0 |
| MIGENTE | 20,482 | 0.6 | 2 |
| Radical Cause (La Causa Radical) | 18,960 | 0.6 | 0 |
| Republic Movemnet (Movimiento Republicano) | 18,601 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Union for Human Rights (Union por Derechos Humanos) | 18,208 | 0.5 | 0 |
| An Only People (Un Solo Pueblo) | 15,981 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Justice First (Primero Justicia) | 15,939 | 0.5 | 0 |
| MSN | 14,139 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Emergent People (Gente Emergente) | 12,924 | 0.4 | 0 |
| Socialist League (Liga Socialista) | 11,930 | 0.4 | 0 |
| Free True Party (Partido Verdad Libre) | 11,342 | 0.3 | 0 |
| ASIS | 10,515 | 0.3 | 0 |
| United Movement of Indigenous Peoples (Movimiento Unido de Pueblos Indígenas) | 10,493 | 0.3 | 1 |
| UP | 10,515 | 0.3 | 0 |
| Movement for Socialism (Movimiento al Socialismo) | 9,118 | 0.3 | 0 |
| Independent Organized Front for Portuguesa (Frente Independiente Organizado por Portuguesa) | 9,042 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Labor Power (Poder Laboral) | 8,272 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Democratic Action (Acción Democrática) | 8,000 | 0.2 | 0 |
| National Active Democratic Organization (Organización Nacional Democrática Activa) | 7,868 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Agrofishery Action | 7,843 | 0.2 | 0 |
| People's Force (Fuerza Popular) | 6,885 | 0.2 | 0 |
| COPEI (Copei - Partido Social Cristiano de Venezuela) | 6,730 | 0.2 | 0 |
| MIPN | 6,213 | 0.2 | 0 |
| MIPZ | 6,058 | 0.2 | 0 |
| MIRAG | 5,808 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Project Venezuela (Proyecto Venezuela) | 5,645 | 0.2 | 0 |
| RZ2021 | 5,158 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Patriotic Unity of Carabobo (Unidad Patriótica de Carabobo) | 4,899 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Break Through (Abre Brecha) | 4,599 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Total | 3,398,567
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167 | |
| Registered Voters | 14,272,964 | - | |
| Votes Cast (% of registered voters) | 3,604,741 | 25,26 | |
| Valid Votes (% of votes cast) | 3,398,567 | 94.28 | |
| Invalid Votes (% of votes cast) | 206,174 | 5.72 | |
| Abstention (% of registered voters) | 10,668,223 | 74.74 | |
| Source regarding number of votes CNE site and seats from National Assembly's one. | |||
[edit] Notes
- ^ Amnesty International USA. Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries. Retrieved 19 August 2006
- ^ The Death Penalty Worldwide. InfoPlease. Retrieved 19 August 2006.
- ^ Elección presidencial. CNE (2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-14.(Spanish)
- ^ Resultados Electorales. Consejo Nacional Electoral (2006-12-04). Retrieved on 2006-12-04.
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