Opposition in Venezuela Now Has to Fix the Ills That Led to Its Victory

Now comes the hard part. The political opposition here rode discontent over a failing economy to an overwhelming majority in legislative elections on Sunday, but after years of sniping from the sidelines, members have to get down to the difficult task of delivering on promises to fix the country’s many ills. The opposition, under the banner of the Democratic Unity coalition, won 112 of the 167 seats in the National Assembly, which will be sworn in Jan. 5, according to electoral authorities. The government’s United Socialist Party will now have 55 seats. The victory broke the United Socialist Party’s absolute hold on government institutions and it represents the first time since its founder, the leftist Hugo Chávez, first took office as president in 1999 that the opposition has taken control of the legislature. More…