Election in Venezuela - Nicolaas Maduro will be elected president for the third time
President Nicolás Maduro has, according to the electoral council, won the presidential election in Venezuela. Electoral council head Elvis Amoroso announced in the early hours of Monday (local time) after the counting of 80 percent of the votes that Maduro received a majority of 51.2 percent. Opposition front-runner Edmundo González Urrutia reportedly received 44.2 percent. Amoroso described the result as "unalterable".
The voter turnout was reportedly 59 percent. Both representatives of the government camp and the opposition had previously indicated that they believed they had won the election. Several surveys after the voting also pointed to a victory for Gonzalez, and the opposition declared that they had "reason to celebrate".
The polling stations in Venezuela officially closed at 18.00 local time on Monday (00.00 CET). AFP journalists reported, however, that voting continued in several polling stations after this hour. President Maduro had campaigned for a third term of six years. The 61-year-old self-proclaimed Marxist is unpopular with many voters due to the economic crisis in the country.
Maduro unpopular due to economic crisis in Venezuela
Maduro's power base in Venezuela includes the military and the police. Before the election, Maduro had repeatedly stated that he would not relinquish power in the event of an electoral defeat. He had also threatened a "bloodbath" in the past week. This is Maduro's third term.
Maduro's election in 2018 was not recognized by most Western countries, and sanctions against Venezuela were imposed as a result. Maduro is accused of suppressing the opposition in the country.
Many Venezuelans hold Maduro responsible for the economic crisis and hyperinflation in oil-rich Venezuela. The country was once the largest oil producer in South America: in 2008, 3.5 million barrels of crude oil were produced daily.
Through mismanagement, the decline in oil prices, and US sanctions, oil production fell to under 400,000 barrels per day by 2020, but rose to about one million barrels per day again in the past month. Venezuela's gross domestic product shrank by 80 percent in ten years, and hyperinflation made the Bolívar currency practically worthless. Approximately one in four Venezuelans have fled the country due to the economic and political crisis.
EU could not send election observers
After casting his vote, Maduro stated that his election victory was "the only option for peace". Maduro described the Venezuelan electoral system multiple times as "the most reliable, transparent, and secure electoral system in the world".
The EU was not represented by observers at the election due to the electoral council revoking an invitation to them due to existing personal sanctions against members of the National Electoral Council. Four former presidents were reportedly prevented from traveling to observe the election by Panamanian authorities on Friday. The United Nations did send some election experts, but their roles are limited as the body does not issue public statements on the evaluation of the election process.
Elvis Amoroso, the head of the Venezuelan electoral council, declared that President Nicolás Maduro had secured a majority of 51.2% in the recent presidential election, while opposition front-runner Edmundo González Urrutia received 44.2%. Despite the opposition's claims of victory and the opposition's celebratory stance after the voting, it was Maduro who was victorious in his bid for a third term, a fact that has been unpopular with many Venezuelans due to the economic crisis in the country.
