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Chávez Leads, Rivals Below 10% in Venezuela
- Many Venezuelan adults would give Hugo Chávez a new term as president, according to a poll by Datanálisis. 59 per cent of respondents would vote for the incumbent in this year's ballot.
Zulia governor Manuel Rosales is a distant second with nine per cent, followed by Julio Andrés Borges of Justice First (PJ) with eight per cent, and former planning minister Teodoro Petkoff with two per cent.
Chávez has been in office since February 1999. In July 2000, he was elected to a six-year term with 59.5 per cent of all cast ballots. In August 2004, Chávez won a referendum on his tenure with 59 per cent of the vote. The special election was called after opposition organizations in Venezuela gathered 2.5 million signatures to force a recall ballot.
The presidential election is scheduled for Dec. 3. In December 2005, Venezuelan voters renewed their National Assembly. The pro-Chávez Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) secured 114 of the 167 seats at stake. Five opposition parties boycotted the election, which saw a turnout of less than 25 per cent.
In May, Borges, Rosales and Petkoff announced their intention to nominate a single candidate to face Chávez. On Jul. 7, civil organization Súmate scheduled an opposition presidential primary for Aug. 13, but Petkoff ruled out taking part.
On Jul. 29, Rosales expressed satisfaction with the early stages of the campaign, saying, "There is an insurmountable force which is expanding all over the country. We will decide if the Venezuelan people continue to receive mere crumbs, or if our oil riches can actually reach the pockets of every single Venezuelan."
Polling Data
Which candidate would you vote for in the presidential election?
Hugo Chávez | 59% |
Manuel Rosales | 9% |
Julio Andrés Borges (PJ) | 8% |
Teodoro Petkoff | 2% |
Source: Datanálisis
Methodology: Interviews to 1,300 Venezuelan adults, conducted from Jun. 10 to Jun. 19, 2006. Margin of error is 2.7 per cent.