Venezuela: opposition bloc in Parliament denounces

The opposition bloc in the Venezuelan Parliament stated this Monday afternoon (23) that the primary elections held by a sector of the right in the country were marked by “vices and irregularities”.

The statements were made by deputy Luis Eduardo Martínez, from the Democratic Action (AD) party, on behalf of the opposition bench in the National Assembly, the Venezuelan Legislative body.

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“It was a process that lacked basic technical support, such as the participation of the National Electoral Council,” said Martínez, who is also a pre-candidate for President and is expected to run in the 2024 presidential elections.

This fraction of the Venezuelan opposition is united in the Democratic Alliance coalition and rivals the opposition group that participated in the primaries and that forms the so-called Democratic Unitary Platform.

Martínez made allegations about electoral participation in the consultation held last Sunday (22), questioning the data provided by the Primaries Organizing Committee and said that the Democratic Alliance has “its own monitoring mechanism”.

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“Only 645 thousand voters participated”, claimed the deputy. “In percentage terms, 2.72% of the electorate voted, while 97% of Venezuelans eligible to vote did not participate,” he said.

The numbers are different from those released by the group that organized the vote. According to the commission, as of Monday night, only 64.8% of the ballot boxes had been counted and the total number of votes was 1,591,504.

There is no possibility of comparing the participation figures with the results of third parties or official bodies as the opposition refused the support of the National Electoral Council (CNE) to carry out the vote. Furthermore, there is no confirmation that the primaries were observed by independent entities, national or international.

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Also according to the group of opponents who organized the consultation, the ultra-liberal Maria Corina Machado would have received 92% of the votes and would be the winner of the process. The objective of the primaries was to define a unified candidacy from this sector of the right for next year’s presidential elections, but internal divisions and Machado’s disqualification should be obstacles to unity.

‘Megafraud’, says Maduro

On his weekly television program, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro called the primaries a “mega-fraud” and “a move to disrupt” the upcoming presidential elections. “They come with only one speech: hatred, intolerance, revenge and yesterday [domingo] They tried to put on a show, a mega-fraud, to present the same error to the world again,” he said.

The president also recalled the support given by the Democratic Unitary Platform to the policy of sanctions and “maximum pressure” drawn up by former US president Donald Trump and said that this sector of the opposition wants to “blackmail the country abroad, ask for sanctions and call for invasions “.

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Maduro also criticized Maria Corina and other opposition figures classified by the president as “fascists and extremists” and said that the “time of power of these families is over.” During the so-called “interim government” of former deputy Juan Guaidó, Maria Corina supported the blockade and even called for armed intervention to overthrow the government.

Editing: Leandro Melito