Step.- The pro-government Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) on Thursday called on the candidates of the last presidential elections, branded as fraudulent by the opposition, to appear after accepting an appeal by the proclaimed winner Nicolás Maduro for the highest court to certify the process, according to information published by the news agency Agence France-Presse.
The Electoral Chamber of the TSJ summoned Maduro and his main rival, Edmundo González Urrutia, whom the president threatened with jail by accusing him of leading a coup against him together with opposition leader María Corina Machado.
Eight other minority candidates were also called. “I will be there, I hope all the candidates will attend,” Maduro said at a rally.
The president of Venezuela’s highest court, Caryslia Rodríguez, announced the court’s decision to accept the appeal for protection filed on Wednesday by Maduro and to begin “the investigation and verification process to certify in an unrestricted manner the results of the electoral process.”
The call for applications is for Friday at 2:00 p.m. local time.
“This electoral chamber (…) is committed to peace, democracy and the pursuit of constitutional order (…), ensuring that the will of the voters receives effective and timely judicial protection,” he added.
The National Electoral Council (CNE), also a pro-government party, proclaimed Maduro re-elected for a third six-year term, with 51 percent of the votes compared to 44 percent for González Urrutia, who was nominated by the main opposition alliance, the Unitary Platform, following a political disqualification against former deputy Machado.
The opposition claims that it has a copy of more than 80 percent of the minutes and that González Urrutia obtained 67 percent of the votes.
Protests broke out on Monday, leaving at least 11 dead, according to human rights organisations, although the opposition has put the death toll at 20.
Machado said she went into hiding and feared for her life and freedom, in an opinion piece published Thursday by The Wall Street Journal, after Maduro called for jail time for her and González Urrutia.
“You have blood on your hands,” the Chavista leader said on Wednesday, referring to his opponents, whom he accuses of promoting a “coup d’état” with their accusations of fraud. “They should be behind bars,” he added.
With information from AFP.
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