Chamber:
	Cámara de Diputados
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	5 December 1993
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members’ term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	As is customary in Venezuela, the congressional elections coincided with those for President of the Republic. Main contenders for the latter post were former President (from 1969 to 1974) Rafael Caldera Rodriguez, who campaigned as an independent but ran under the banner of the National Convergence (CN) coalition; Mr. Andrés Velasquez of the Radical Cause (Causa-R.) party; Mr. Oswaldo Alvarez Paz of the Social Christian Party (COPEI), the political group which Mr. Caldera had co-founded but subsequently left; and Mr. Claudio Fermin of the ruling Democratic Action (AD) party. Outgoing Acting President Ramon José Velasquez, who had succeeded Mr. Carlos Andrés Pérez in June 1993 as a result of corruption charges against the latter, was not a candidate. Polling also took place for state legislators. In the battle for congressional seats, three blocs emerged: CN – a makeshift alliance of 17 parties ranging across the ideological spectrum which included the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), Causa-R, and the two traditional parties: COPEI and AD. Economic issues and the question of official corruption stood out in the campaign debate. Mr. Caldera pledged fiscal austerity but simultaneously offered to suspend the recently passed value-added-tax and ruled out privatisation of the country’s oil industry. Coming across with a populist message, he proposed to readjust the tax system altogether, to review some of the free-market reforms of the previous administration that were perceived as benefiting only the rich, and to crack down on corruption and mismanagement. This last issue was at the centre of the platform of Mr. Andrés Velasquez. The polling procedure, supervised by military forces, was generally peaceful. There was a low turnout despite the fact that voting was in theory obligatory. Final results gave a narrow presidential victory to Mr. Caldera as all four leading candidates obtained more than 20% of the vote. Analysts interpreted this outcome as an emphatic expression of no-confidence in the two-party (AD and COPEI) régime that had prevailed since 1958 as well as the appeal of Mr. Caldera’s reputation for honesty. In the congressional races, the social democratic AD edged out the centrist COPEI in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. Mr. Caldera began his five-year term on 2 February 1994; the new Cabinet was sworn in the same day.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (5 December 1993): Elections results
Number of registered electors	10,000,000 (approx.)
Voters	60% (approx.)

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Democratic Action (AD)	55
Social Christian Party (COPEI)	53
Radical Cause (Causa-R.)	40
National Convergence (CN)	26
Movement towards Socialism (MAS)	24
Others	5

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	191
Women:	12