Nicolas Maduro reelected as president of Venezuela

Nicolás Maduro, the authoritarian leader of Venezuela, has been reelected as president, the country’s election authority has announced. There were concerns throughout the process that it would not be a fair election, and opposition leaders claimed there were election irregularities. 

With 80 per cent of votes counted, Maduro won more than 51 per cent of the vote, beating the Democratic Unitary Platform candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who gained more than 44 per cent. According to the National Electoral Council, the election result is already "irreversible". 

Maduro will hold office for a third consecutive six-year term. Venezuela will thus see a continuation of Chavismo, the left-wing populist political ideology based on the governing associated with former president Hugo Chávez. Maduro has been in power since Chávez’s death in 2013.

The election comes at a crucial moment, with the oil-rich country facing economic hardship. More than 7 million people have left in search of a better life, and the economy was one of the key battlegrounds in the elections.

After Maduro was declared as the winner, the opposition claimed victory for González Urrutia. Earlier, they spoke of election irregularities, including the alleged halting of data being sent from local polling stations to the central location. Maduro, however, praised his country’s electoral system, describing it as one with a “very high level of trust, security, transparency”.

^{Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro blows a kiss to supporters following the election results © PHOTO YURI CORTEZ / AFP}