Venezuelan opposition holds controversial primary elections

Venezuela's opposition coalition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) held controversial primary elections on Sunday for this year's parliamentary elections.

The parliamentary elections will be MUD's best shot in over a decade to win over the National Assembly.

However, only 37 of the country's 167 parliament seats are up for grabs at these elections while the rest will be hand-picked by a "consensus" from the political parties that make up the opposition coalition, a move that has been widely criticized by different sectors.

"Good morning Venezuela, today May 17 don't stay at home. Go out and vote in our primaries," the MUD urged in a Twitter post.

According to the right-wing coalition, 109 hopefuls will participate in Sunday's elections to become candidates for the parliamentary elections in only 33 of the nation's 87 electoral constituencies.

MUD's executive secretary Jesus Torrealba said Sunday that " under a totalitarian regime, voting is an act of civil rebellion. It says to the criminal gang leaders with power inside jails, to everyone, that Venezuela is not only a place to be plundered, it is a country!"

The turnout is expected to be low as the primaries will only be held in 12 of the country's 24 states and many don't believe the opposition politicians will solve the nation's economic troubles.

The primaries count on the technological support of the National Electoral Council and an international observation team from the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) to view the process.

Voting is set to close at 4 PM local time (20:30 GMT) and results are expected to be announced later in the week.

The perpetually fragmented MUD coalition has struggled to articulate policy proposals so Sunday's low-profile primaries are largely a show of mobilization against President Nicolas Maduro and his government.

The governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) will hold its primaries on June 28 in all 87 constituencies of the country and with 1,162 politicians hopeful to become candidates for the legislative contest.