Venezuela Opposition Party Calls For Presidential Primary

June 20 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- Venezuela's Social Christian Party said the country's opposition should hold a presidential primary to select one candidate if President Hugo Chavez loses a binding referendum on his presidency later this year.

Social Christian Party President Eduardo Fernandez said a primary would be open to all Venezuelans opposed to Chavez, and would be the best and most open way to select a candidate.

A primary would allow Venezuela's opposition, which is united only by its members' dislike of Chavez, to avoid splintering and fielding more than one candidate, analysts have said. Polls have repeatedly showed that Chavez would easily be defeated if he faces only one opponent.

Chavez would lose a referendum on his presidency by 38 percentage points if a vote were held today, El Nacional reported, citing a poll by Consultores 21.

The May 17-27 poll of 1,500 Venezuelans found that 66 percent would vote for Chavez to leave office, while 28 percent would cast ballots for him to stay. Eight percent were undecided.