Jump to content

Fifth Republic Movement

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Lelapindore (talk | contribs) at 20:41, 22 July 2010 (→Dissolution). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:Other uses2

Fifth Republic Movement
LeaderHugo Chávez
Founded1997
HeadquartersPlaza Venezuela, Caracas
IdeologySocialism
Bolivarianism
International affiliationForo de São Paulo
Website
Official site

The Fifth Republic Movement (Spanish: Movimiento V [Quinta] República, MVR) was a left-wing, Socialist political party in Venezuela which was founded by Hugo Chávez, the current President of Venezuela. The "Fifth Republic" refers to Chávez's "Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela", the fifth republic in Venezuelan history.

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 4 December 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 20 October 2007.

Party aims

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

Primary elections

The Movement for a Fifth Republic (MVR), former Venezuela’s governing party, was 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.

The use of Venezuelan history

Venezuela historiography recognizes four "republics," or major regime changes since the country was founded in 1811. The First Republic, known as the "Venezuelan Confederation" lasted until 1812. The Second Republic is the restored republican regime that was instituted by Simón Bolívar after his Admirable Campaign in 1813, and which lasted until 1814. The Third Republic refers to the period after 1816 in which various patriot guerrilla bands joined under Bolívar's leadership in the Llanos of Venezuela and set up an independent government. This process culminated in the Congress of Angostura, but shortly thereafter the Congress declared Venezuela to be part of a larger Gran Colombia. Gran Colombia lasted only a decade and at its dissolution Venezuela became once again the "Republic of Venezuela," which is considered the start of the Fourth Republic. In 1864 the country was then restructured into the "United States of Venezuela", before reverting once again to the name, "Republic of Venezuela" in 1953. Although both periods began with the implementation of new constitutions (the fourth and twenty-fourth constitutions, respectively), both have been deemed by Venezuelan historiography as a continuation of the Fourth Republic.[1]

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. The use of the phrase also echoes the French Fifth Republic, which was another sweeping political change to deal with a large social social unrest in 1960s France.

Dissolution

On 18 December 2006, Hugo Chávez announced plans to dissolve the party, hoping that the 23 other parties that supported his government would follow suit and collectively form the proposed United Socialist Party of Venezuela. [1]

Leaders of MVR

References

  1. ^ Planchart Manrique, Gustavo. "Constituciones de Venezuela" in Diccionario de Historia de Venezuela. Caracas: Fundación Polar, 1997. ISBN 9806397371

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Fifth_Republic_Movement&oldid=374914033"