Venezuelan gov't wins most mayoral seats as opposition refuses to run

CARACAS, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Government candidates won 21 state capitals in Venezuela's local elections on Sunday, according to the National Electoral Council (CNE), despite a low turnout of 47.32 percent and the absence of any real opposition.

Posting on its website, the CNE revealed that the Great Patriotic Pole (GPP), a coalition which includes the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela, had won 308 municipalities out of 335, with smaller opposition parties winning 25.

Among others, the government won the governorship of the state of Zulia, which had elected an opposition candidate on Oct. 15 who was disqualified for refusing to swear an oath to the National Constituent Assembly (ANC).

The government also took home the mayoral positions of Libertador and San Cristobal, capitals of the states of Merida and Tachira, whose governors are from the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD).

Amid widespread allegations of electoral fraud in the October gubernatorial elections, the MUD decided not to contest in the local polls. "There were no elections in the terms established by the Constitution," it said in a statement.

In retaliation to the boycott, President Nicolas Maduro threatened at the weekend to ban the MUD from contesting in next year's presidential elections. Enditem