Opposition claims supermajority in Venezuela’s legislature

Opposition leaders wept with emotion and swigged champagne as the results were announced.

The Venezuelan opposition coalition claims to have won at least 112 seats in the country’s National Assembly, which would give forces opposing President Nicolás Maduro ample powers to challenge his government. Maduro, 53, quickly acknowledged the defeat, the worst for the ruling “Chavismo” movement since its founder Hugo Chavez took power in 1999.

Sanches says that the opposition factions capitalized “on the current circumstances” of the Venezuelan economy and took advantage of the social situation and “probably a little bit of tiredness” in the financial system in Venezuela. “We have lost a battle today, but the struggle to build a new society is just beginning”.

The Democratic Unity victory may put the brakes on anti-capitalist policies that have driven them out.

 The opposition’s victory will allow it to control government spending, grant amnesty to political prisoners, investigate corruption and withhold permission for the president to travel overseas.

The MUD capitalised on discontent among Venezuela’s 29 million people, who suffer the world’s highest inflation and product shortages.

Some on Wall Street cheered Sunday’s results in Venezuela.

Investors reacted positively to the OPEC nation’s swing away from the radical left, with dollar bonds rising strongly on hopes of business-friendly change.

Officials say the opposition won 99 of the 167 seats in the National Assembly. Twenty-two seats are still in contention as the vote counts continue; Lucena attributed this to votes coming from remote, indigenous communities.

Mr Maduro’s party, however, still controls much of the judiciary, hundreds of mayors and dozens of states – meaning that the opposition will have a tough time implementing their much-vaunted change.

But reining in Maduro, who became president after Chavez died in 2013, will be tough.

Some government supporters are already bracing for a fight, however.

“We urge the government to stop crying and start working”, Democratic Unity coalition leader Jesus Torrealba said in a news conference under a sign reading ‘Thank you Venezuela, we won!’.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry congratulated Venezuelans for making their voice heard and called on authorities to tabulate and publish remaining results in a timely manner. “And if they were able to get that recall referendum or to go to a vote, it’s very likely that Maduro would be voted out as president”.

Colette Capriles, a political scientist, said that opposition leaders like Henrique Capriles were keenly aware that if Mr. Maduro was forced out in the coming months – a goal voiced by many in the opposition – there would probably be a new election to succeed him.