The National Primaries Commission (CNP) of the Venezuelan opposition rejected this Monday (2) the proposal of the National Electoral Council (CNE), dominated by Chavismo, to postpone the primaries it will hold this month to define the candidate who will face the dictator. Nicolás Maduro in the 2024 presidential election.
Last week, the CNE had proposed that the vote take place on November 19th. However, in a statement released this Monday, the CNP decided to maintain the date on October 22nd.
“Those consulted linked to the primaries agreed in their concern about points such as maintaining the date due to its meaning and relevance for the success of the process”, stated the CNP.
The body that coordinates the opposition primaries said that several stages of the process have already been completed or are underway, such as the admission of the 13 candidacies, the registration of more than 300,000 Venezuelans abroad to vote and the training of more than 40,000 candidates to members of the electoral boards.
At the end of September, the CNE, the body responsible for holding and monitoring elections in the country, offered technical assistance for the opposition primaries.
The president of the electoral body, Elvis Amoroso, explained that in June the CNE had received a request for technical assistance for the process signed by Jesús María Casal, president of the CNP.
However, the CNP subsequently withdrew this help and decided to carry out the process alone because in June all of the then five full members of the CNE, starting with the rectors linked to the government, resigned from their seats.
This stampede began a process for a new formation of the collegiate, concluded in August by the National Assembly of Venezuela, controlled by the Maduro dictatorship.
Venezuela’s controller general, Elvis Amoroso, responsible for the ineligibility of opponents of Maduro, such as María Corina Machado, became the new president of the CNE. The new composition of the body has three Chavista rectors (Amoroso and two others) and two from the opposition.
After meetings in recent days, including with members of the CNE, the CNP decided that it will accept the support of the national council “in the primaries as they are configured, because they are already in the final phase”, pointed out the statement released this Monday.
In this sense, he asked the CNE to help with points such as making official voting centers available as a complement or replacement for some already agreed by the CNP; inform the security sectors of the Venezuelan dictatorship about the vote on October 22, to “establish the necessary procedures to promote the peaceful conduct of election day”; help to ensure that there are no “obstacles in the transfer of electoral material, through safe conduct or other similar protocols”; among other points.
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