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Fifth Republic

Fifth Republic: see France.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press

The Fifth Republic Movement (Spanish: Movimiento V [Quinta] República, MVR) was a left-wing political party in Venezuela which was founded by Hugo Chávez, the current President of Venezuela.

At the legislative elections on 30 July 2000, the party won 91 out of 165 seats in the National Assembly. On the same day Hugo Chávez was elected president in the presidential elections with 59.5 % of votes.

In the parliamentary elections of December 4, 2005, the party won 114 out of 167 seats with allied parties winning the remaining seats. However, voter participation was a record low of only 25 % (this claimed due to an opposition boycott).

In December 2006 and January 2007 the party started its dissolution, to form the proposed United Socialist Party of Venezuela. It merged into PSUV on 2007-10-20.

Party aims

The party is committed to the Bolivarian Revolution and claims to be the political voice of the country's poor.

Primary elections

The Movement for a Fifth Republic (MVR), Venezuela’s governing party, is the first political party in Venezuela to incorporate primary elections as the primary method for selecting its candidates.

Led by President Hugo Chávez, but involving organizations and movements that are broader than the MVR, the question of how to select MVR candidates has been controversial. Until the implementation of this primary mechanism, candidates tended to be hand-picked by the leadership of the parties. The result has been that a number of those elected on MVR platforms were distrusted by the masses, and in some cases have proved disloyal.

The issue came to a head in the lead-up to the regional elections of October 2005. Despite opposition from within the grassroots movements, a candidate list was drawn up by the leadership of various MVR allied parties. The decision not to hold primaries was justified by the claim that there wasn't time. After the elections, Chavez stated that in the future, primaries would be held to empower the rank and file to select candidates.

Provisions introduced into the constitution and adopted by referendum in 1999 already mean that elected officials can have their mandate revoked half-way through their term if 20 % of their electors sign a petition requesting a fresh election.

A total of 2.4 million people voted in the MVR primaries. More than 5200 candidates were pre-selected to compete for the 5618 positions up for grabs in the August elections. The remaining 418 positions will go to other pro-Chavez parties. However, other pro-Chavez groups have publicly criticized the MVR for taking these positions.

Venezuelan history

Venezuela has gone through four major regime changes since the country was founded in 1811. The First Republic, known as the "Venezuelan Confederation" lasted until 1830, at which point the country became "Republic of Venezuela". In 1864 the country was then restructured into the "United States of Venezuela", before reverting to the Republic of Venezuela in 1953. Since Chávez's election to the Presidency in 1999, the country has been known as the "Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela" signaling Chávez' desires to usher in a new era of politics and government. This unique "Bolivarian" government is the "Fifth Republic" referred to in the party's title.

Dissolution

On December 18, 2006, Hugo Chávez announced plans to dissolve the party, hoping that the 23 other parties that supported his government will follow suit and collectively form the proposed United Socialist Party of Venezuela.