Venezuela's new National Assembly, in which the opposition against President Nicolás Maduro holds a majority for the first time, will be headed by Henry Ramos, the secretary general of the Democratic Action party. But, the new leader was prevented from entering the building. 

The opposition coalition on Jan. 3 picked Ramos as the unicameral legislature's president, and the Valencia native will lead a bloc of 112 lawmakers, who command a two-thirds majority in the 167-seat body, Reuters reported.

"We represent an alternative," said Ramos, a lawyer, who won the election to lead the National Assembly with 62 of the 111 votes cast. "We are not going to be the anti-establishment, rather an autonomous legislative power."

Ramos has a long legislative records and in 1994 was first elected a member of Venezuela's bicameral Congress, which was eventually abolished by constitutional reforms pushed by Maduro's late predecessor, Hugo Chávez. Originally elected in his home state of Carabobo, Ramos later represented the Venezuelan capital of Caracas in the National Assembly, which replaced the Congress.

The 72-year-old was challenged for the Assembly presidency by Julio Borges, the leader of the opposition First Justice party, who received 49 votes, El Universal reported. Lawmakers chose their leader in a secret ballot, and First Justice would be given the right to pick the head of the opposition coalition's parliamentary caucus, the newspaper added.

Venezuela's semi-official Telesur news network, which remains under the control of Maduro allies, dubbed Ramos' election a "move to the right" as the president himself called for a "rebirth of the (socialist) Bolivarian revolution."

"There is a resurgence of the right in South America, and the most important loot to dole out is the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela," Maduro said in reference to recent election victories of center-right forces across the continent.

"It is important to remember that the country has partnerships with a core group of states in South America and the Caribbean," the president said. "Many countries around the world are nobly saluting the offensive policy led by the Bolivarian revolution."

However, Ramos may not be able to exercise his new authority. The Democratic Union Coalition (MUD), to which Ramos and the opposition belong to, reported on social media that authorities prevented Ramos from entering the National Assembly on Monday, Jan. 4. Ramos warned in a press conference that "violent groups" planned to prevent the 112 legislators from entering the building.