Venezuela opposition holds primaries before poll date announcement

Venezuela's opposition has held primaries even though no date has yet been set for a much- anticipated general election for the 165-mmember National Assembly (AN), Efe news agency reported.

After Sunday's primaries, Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles accused the government of Nicolas Maduro of attempting to disenfranchise the electorate to prevent its participation in the elections.

He said this explained why the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) has not yet announced a date for the general election.

"Congratulations to all successful candidates! Our united team is now ready to win control of the AN and change our Venezuela!" Capriles, leader of the opposition coalition Democratic Unity Table (MUD) wrote on Twitter.

The number of voters in the primaries to select 42 candidates from the 109 who stood is unclear, but in at least seven of 12 states, voting hours were extended to accommodate long queues of voters.

Although official results will not be announced until later in the week, the names of some of the winners in the Caracas area could be declared sooner.

"I want to publicly applaud our compatriots who went to the polls," said executive secretary of MUD, Jesus Torrealba, after most of the polling stations closed.

Torrealba also criticised the CNE for failing to inform MUD of the presence of electoral observers from a Union of South American Nations committee at five polling stations in Caracas, an omission he considered a "provocation ".

National Assembly President and Speaker Diosdado Cabello called the opposition primaries a "scam".