Venezuela ruling party keeps control of legislature amid opposition division

Venezuela's ruling socialist party held its significant majority in the National Assembly in a Sunday election, winning nearly 83% of votes according to the electoral authority, in a contest boycotted by some opposition leaders amid deep division among parties opposed to the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

Some of the country's major opposition leaders called for voters to abstain in protest of the official results of the July 2024 presidential election, which the opposition says it won but which authorities say was a Maduro victory.

Sunday's legislative results will keep the ruling party in control of the attorney general's office and the top court, whose members are elected by lawmakers.

Authorities did not give a total number of seats which will be held by each party, but named 40 lawmakers from various parties who have won seats.

A coalition considered close to the ruling socialist party won 6.25% of the vote, while an opposition alliance won 5.17%, National Electoral Council (CNE) rector Carlos Quintero said in a declaration broadcast on state television.

Turnout to choose 24 state governors and 285 lawmakers was 42.6% of 21 million eligible voters, Quintero said, similar to the turnout in the 2021 elections.

Opposition candidates won just one governorship, in the state of Cojedes, west of the capital Caracas, down from the four won by opposition parties in 2021.

Opposition leaders Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez called on supporters to abstain from Sunday's vote in protest at the official version of the 2024 election results and what they and rights groups say is a brutal crackdown on the opposition, including detentions this week.

Machado, Gonzalez and their Vente Venezuela coalition posted photos throughout the day of what they said were empty polling stations around the country, even as the government extended voting hours, saying turnout was high.

Meanwhile, another opposition faction headed by two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles and Zulia state governor Manuel Rosales, urged people to vote to avoid the opposition being cut out of all governance.

Capriles was elected to the national assembly, while Rosales lost his governor's seat.

New State

The opposition and the international community, including the United States, have questioned the 2024 presidential result.

Authorities have yet to share detailed tallies from that vote, blaming a cyber attack, while the opposition has published ballot box-level tallies which show a victory for its former candidate Gonzalez.

Gonzalez fled to Spain in September, while Machado is in hiding in Venezuela.

A governor was elected to represent the new state of Guayana Esequiba despite an order from the International Court of Justice that voting not take place in the region, which is the subject of a territorial dispute with neighboring Guyana.

Guyana's parliament on Friday passed a resolution strongly condemning the Venezuelan government's "defiance" of the ICJ order, saying it was a threat to regional peace and stability.

The Venezuelan government has said it does not recognize the court's authority in the case.

Local Guyanese media reporting from several places in the disputed region said no voting was taking place there on Sunday.

The US has increased sanctions on Venezuela since the 2024 elections and the Trump administration has given oil major Chevron until May 27 to wind down its operations there.

Maduro, in power since 2013, has always rejected the sanctions by the US and others, calling them illegitimate and an "economic war."