Absent Chávez exerts pull in regional poll The sweeping victory of Venezuela's ruling socialist party in regional elections has bolstered its position ahead of any possible forced departure from the presidency of Hugo Chávez, who is again battling cancer. Despite Mr Chávez's absence from elections in Venezuela for the first time ever as he recovered from emergency surgery in Cuba this month, "chavismo without Chávez" proved itself a considerable electoral force after winning by roughly the same margin as the socialist leader in the October presidential elections. Candidates for the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) received 56 per cent of the national vote, suggesting opposition leader Henrique Capriles would face a stiff challenge against Mr Chávez's anointed successor, Vice-President Nicolás Maduro, if there were another presidential election. "This is the best present we could have given Chávez," said Mr Maduro, amid opposition accusations that the government had taken advantage of the president's illness to win votes, as well as abusing access to state resources. While the opposition lost control of several regional strongholds, Henrique Capriles did, however, consolidate his position as its de facto leader after winning re-election in Miranda, Venezuela's second-most populous state. The PSUV won 20 out of 23 governorships, including a humiliating defeat in Zulia for Pablo Pérez, Mr Capriles's strongest rival for leadership of the opposition. Oil-rich Zulia has long been an opposition bastion and is also Venezuela's most populous state. Pollsters said that the emotions running high among the ailing leader's grieving supporters benefited PSUV candidates, while many opposition supporters abstained from voting, perhaps still smarting from a disappointing defeat in the presidential elections. Just 54 per cent of the electorate voted, compared with an 81 per cent turnout in the October elections, as many Venezuelans spent their Sunday doing Christmas shopping or on the beach. "I have a very heavy heart but change is waiting just around the corner, it's so close," said Mr Capriles. He nevertheless conceded that the results were "not at all good" and that "difficult times" lay ahead. Having controlled eight governorships before the elections on Sunday, the opposition retained control of only Miranda and Lara, both populous urban areas, and Amazonas, a sparsely populated rural state. While the PSUV's civilian faction was strengthened by Mr Chávez's choice of Mr Maduro, a former trade unionist, as his political heir, the elections represented a boost for the military wing within chavismo, with over half of its governorships won by former or acting army officers. If Mr Chávez's health does not recover sufficiently, analysts are now betting, it is more likely presidential elections will be held in the shorter term, given the PSUV's strong performance. That would increase the chance that the government could postpone a devaluation, which many economists had been expecting in early 2013, according to Francisco Rodríguez at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. A devaluation could exacerbate economic problems such as inflation and shortages, which the government may try to avoid during an election campaign. David Smilde, a Venezuela expert at the Washington Office for Latin America, argues that the elections show that Mr Chávez's famed charisma can indeed carry over to other politicians in his coalition, at least in the short term. "It is likely that if, in the coming month or two, Chávez were incapacitated and had to step aside, this same transfer of charisma could deliver the presidency to Nicolás Maduro," he said. He added that if the elections were delayed, "there are a lot of intervening variables that keep the future less than certain."