Venezuelan Opposition Elects Ramos Allup as President of New Parliament Latin American Herald Tribune January 4, 2015
CARACAS - Venezuela's opposition lawmakers, elected by a majority to the new parliament in the Dec. 6 parliamentary elections, voted Henry Ramos Allup of the Democratic Action party Sunday as president of the National Assembly, which will be inaugurated Tuesday.
Henry Ramos Allup received 62 votes to beat Julio Borges of the Justice First party, who got the remaining 49 votes, the secretary general of the opposition coalition Democratic Unity Roundtable, or MUD, Jesus Torrealba, told reporters.
Ramos Allup, who will be president of the National Assembly, comprising 112 opposition and 55 ruling party lawmakers, for the next five years, said the opposition alliance will not adopt an attitude of defiance towards any other party and will only devote itself to "legislating, controlling and debating."
Once the parliament was inaugurated, he added, the alliance would introduce and adopt an amnesty and national reconciliation bill to release political prisoners despite opposition from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
He also said in July 2015, the parties comprising MUD signed an agreement in which they promised to offer the electorate a "democratic, constitutional, peaceful and electoral solution to change the present government" in the first quarter of this year.
Ramus Allup also confirmed the 112 MUD legislators elected on Dec.6 will take office despite a decision by the country's Supreme Court of Justice suspending the inauguration of three of its lawmakers.
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