This year we've had elections in Canada, the UK, Burma, Singapore, Argentina, and Poland, and elections in Peru and the US 'round the corner. So, it's time for Venezuela!

I'll start by saying that I think that the opposition, for the first time since former president Chávez took power on 1998, has a real chance of winning, due to, well, really obvious reasons.

However, Venezuela has... less than democratic institutions. The executive and the running party effectively control almost everything, most worryingly, the judiciary and the National Electoral Council (electoral commission). Add that to statements like this one, and you'll understand why I'm not sure that the election will be fair. President Maduro has said he will recognize the results, but I'm not sure about that.

Venezuela technically has a multiparty system, but most parties are part of two coalitions:

• Government-aligned parties: Officially called the Great Patriotic Pole (Gran Polo Patriótico in Spanish), is a coalition, led by the ruling party, the PSUV (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela; United Socialist Party of Venezuela), and composed by parties aligned to it. Its ideology is the so-called "Socialism of the 21st Century".
  
  
• Opposition: Officially called Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (MUD; Democratic Unity Roundtable). It was formed in 2008 to unify the opposition against the governing party. Due to its very nature, it doesn't have a unified ideology, with right-wing, left-wing, centrist, centre-left, and centre-right parties being represented, and has seen some infighting. Some of the most important parties there are the two former major parties, Acción Democrática (social democratic) and COPEI (Christian democratic); Primero Justicia (centre-right), Project Venezuela (conservative), Popular Will (Voluntad Popular; Centrist), and Movement to Socialism (Movimiento Al Socialismo, MAS; democratic socialist).
  

The elections will be held on December 6th. The 165 members ("deputies") of the unicameral National Assembly will be elected for a five year term.