Politics of Venezuela

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Venezuela \| Politics edit

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Venezuela

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Politics of Venezuela takes place in a framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President of Venezuela is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform 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.

1 Overview
2 Executive branch
3 Legislative branch
4 Judicial branch
5 Citizens branch
6 Political parties and the latest presidential and parliamentary elections
7 International organization participation
8 See also

[edit] Overview

Current President Hugo Chávez 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. Chavez was reelected in December 2006.

[edit] Executive branch

Main office holders
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 a single consecutive term. 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 National Assembly Building in downtown Caracas.

The formerly bicameral Venezuelan legistlature 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.

[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 the latest presidential and parliamentary elections

The following election results include names of political parties. See for additional information about parties the List of political parties in Venezuela. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Venezuela.

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.

[discuss] – [edit]
**Summary of the 30 July 2000 Venezuela presidential election results**
Candidates - Nominating parties	Votes	%
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías - Movement for the Fifth Republic (Movimiento V República)	3,757,773	59.76
Francisco Arias Cárdenas - The R Cause (La Causa R)	2,359,459	37.52
Claudio Fermín	171,346	2.72
Total	6,288,578	100.0
Registered Voters	11,720,660
Votes Cast (% of registered voters)	6,637,276	56.63
Valid Votes (% of votes cast)	6,288,578	94.75
Invalid Votes (% of votes cast)	348,698	5.25
No-Votes (% of votes cast)	37,080	0.56
Abstention (% of registered voters)	5,120,464	43.69
Source: National Electoral Council (Venezuela) [1]

[discuss] – [edit]
**Summary of the 4 December 2005 National Assembly of Venezuela election results**
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
Homeland 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 People's 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 (at 100 %)		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.