Venezuelans go to the polls on December 6 in parliamentary elections widely expected to place the country's only opposition-controlled government institution in the hands of President Nicolas Maduro's Socialist Party.
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While critics see that outcome as extending one of the worst economic and political crises in the region's recent history, some analysts believe the elections could favour the emergence of a moderate parliament.
About 30 opposition parties intend boycotting elections they expect to be fraudulent, paving the way for a government takeover of the National Assembly.
The boycott is led by opposition leader Juan Guaido, who launched a power struggle against Maduro soon after being elected Speaker in January 2019 and whom dozens of countries recognised as interim president.
Opposition parties that are participating in the elections include smaller or new formations, as well as two whose credibility is being questioned after the government-stacked Supreme Court replaced their leadership.
Maduro, who won a second term in 2018 elections widely criticised as undemocratic, has presided over an economic meltdown - including hyperinflation, acute goods shortages and a plunge in oil production - which has driven about 5 million Venezuelans to flee abroad.
"Life is hard," said Central University political scientist Ricardo Sucre.
"There are queues for fuel, water shortages, electricity and gas cuts. Many people in low-income neighbourhoods are cooking with wood."
Maduro has meanwhile cracked down on the opposition, with UN investigators accusing the government of grave human rights violations, including thousands of killings by security forces.
More than 20 million Venezuelans are eligible to elect 277 members of the unicameral parliament, 110 more than in the outgoing National Assembly.
"We are going to have an electoral process in which the government participates practically alone, with an opposition that does not fundamentally question its status," Jose Virtuoso, chancellor of Venezuela's Andres Bello Catholic University, told the human rights NGO Provea.
Other analysts disagree.
The presence of at least some opposition parties in parliament may mean it will not become a mere mouthpiece for the government, Sucre said.
"It will be a weaker National Assembly" without the boycotting parties, but "there will be ... different points of view," he added.
Jesus Seguias, the Venezuelan president of the Latin American pollster Datincorp which conducts opinion polls in the country, believes the government could even allow the moderate opposition to win the elections to demonstrate to the international community that they were transparent.
Such a result would discredit the Guaido camp's fraud claims and "be a total triumph for Maduro," Seguias said.
The fragile unity of the Guaido-led opposition has meanwhile started crumbling in the run-up to the elections, with two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles temporarily breaking ranks to encourage opposition participation in the poll.
The government has meanwhile moved to facilitate its success in the elections, with the Supreme Court appointing compliant top officials to the electoral commission.
Voter turnout is expected to be low.
Australian Associated Press
