Guaido says Venezuela's opposition to continue work despite election results
Dec 27, 2020
Caracas [Venezuela], December 27 (ANI/Sputnik): Venezuela's opposition lawmakers will continue their work despite the parliamentary elections held earlier this month, former head of the National Assembly, opposition leader Juan Guaido said.
"Today, the National Assembly will once again stand up for the protection of the people and the constitution, extending the work of parliament until free elections are held," Guaido wrote on Twitter on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, opposition lawmakers approved modifications of the Transition Statute that regulates the functioning of the National Assembly during constitutional continuity.
In January 2019, Venezuela plunged into a political crisis when the then-head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, Juan Guaido proclaimed himself interim president in a bid to oust re-elected President Nicolas Maduro from power.
Earlier this month, Venezuela held parliamentary elections in which over 100 political parties and associations took part. Over 20 parties, including the opposition bloc of Juan Guaido, refused to participate in the vote.
The socialist Simon Bolivar Great Patriotic Pole alliance (GPPSB) took 91.34 percent of the parliamentary seats, according to election results released by the National Electoral Council (CNE).
The GPPSB alliance, which includes Maduro's United Socialist Party of Venezuela, got 4,317,819 votes, winning 253 out of 277 seats in the National Assembly. Another 11 parliamentary seats were taken by the Democratic Alliance.
Maduro said earlier this week that the new parliament must define the criminal and administrative responsibility of members of the former National Assembly. Speaking to newly-elected lawmakers, Maduro said that the work of the previous National Assembly was "a failure, a rollback" and that the new parliament must present the people of Venezuela with information on all crimes committed by former deputies. (ANI/Sputnik)
