Chavez humbled by first electoral loss

HUMBLED by his first electoral defeat ever, President Hugo Chavez yesterday said he may have been too ambitious in asking voters to let him stand indefinitely for re-election and endorse a huge leap to a socialist state.

“I understand and accept that the proposal I made was quite profound and intense,” he said after voters narrowly rejected the sweeping constitutional reforms by 51-49%. Opposition activists were ecstatic as the results were announced — with 88% of the vote counted, the trend was declared irreversible by the elections council chief.

Some shed tears. Others began chanting: “And now he’s going away!”

Without the overhaul, Chavez will be barred from running again in 2012.

Foes of the reform effort — including Roman Catholic leaders, media freedom groups, human rights groups and prominent business leaders — said it would have granted Chavez unchecked power and imperilled basic rights.

Chavez said the outcome had taught him that “Venezuelan democracy is maturing”. His respect for the verdict, he asserted, proves he is a true democratic leader.

“From this moment on, let’s be calm,” he proposed, asking for no more street violence like the clashes that marred pre-vote protests. “There is no dictatorship here.”

The defeated reform package would have created new types of communal property, let Chavez handpick local leaders under a redrawn political map and suspended civil liberties during extended states of emergency.

Other changes would have shortened the workday from eight hours to six, created a social security fund for millions of informal labourers and promoted communal councils where residents decide how to spend government funds.