(CNN) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is not on the ballot in this Sunday's parliamentary elections, but he nonetheless casts a large shadow over the vote.
Voters will decide 165 seats out of 167 in the country's National Assembly, where Chavez's ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela, or PSUV, holds 137 seats.
But Chavez is such a large figure in his party that the fortunes of the PSUV often reflect his own popularity.
"In many ways, this is a dress rehearsal for the presidential elections in 2012," said John Walsh, a senior associate at the Washington Office on Latin America.
Chavez himself, in his role as president of the PSUV, led the closing campaign rally for the party's candidates last week.
CNN
