Venezuela’s main opposition groups said they will organize their own presidential primaries independently of the electoral authority when they select a candidate to try to defeat President Nicolás Maduro next year.
(Bloomberg) — Venezuela’s main opposition groups said they will organize their own presidential primaries independently of the electoral authority when they select a candidate to try to defeat President Nicolás Maduro next year.
The decision to sideline the electoral body means the opposition will have to fund the process itself, and secure access to hundreds of polling centers across the country by October. They will also have to rely on paper ballots rather than on voting machines in the selection of their candidate.
Some leading opposition contenders, such as María Corina Machado, had expressed concern about the opposition allowing the government to participate, for fears that it interfere in the process, or abuse its access to voters’ identities. Machado has called for paper ballots to guarantee the secrecy of the vote.
“We’ve taken an important, historic step,” Machado said to hundreds of supporters following the announcement while campaigning in Lara state.
Candidates have until June 23 to register to take part in the primary. The opposition is hoping to end more than two decades of socialist rule in the Caribbean nation.
“The great challenge will be how to generate interest so that people express themselves through the ballot box in a context of mistrust in the institutions, political apathy, and with the obstacles that the government will surely try to impose,” said Tamara Taraciuk, Rule of Law Program director at the Inter-American Dialogue.
Top opposition contender and twice presidential candidate, Henrique Capriles, said he backed the committee’s decision and planned to participate in the vote.
The decision came after the head of Venezuela’s electoral council and several of its senior officials linked to the ruling party resigned on Thursday. The opposition feared this could delay the process of getting its vote organized as Maduro’s government begins the process of selecting replacements.
Read more: Top Venezuelan Electoral Officials Step Down Ahead of Vote
“The resignation of several directors and the CNE renewal, as outlined, complicates things,” opposition primary committee head Jesus Casal said from a press conference in Caracas. “We will move on with the organization of a self-managed primary.”
The opposition is designing strategies to collect funds to carry out the vote, including through raffles and donations from Venezuelans abroad, Casal said.
(Updates with comment from Machado, Taraciuk starting on the 4th paragraph.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.