The Supreme Court designates by fast track the new rectors of the National Electoral Council

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Restrictions on the return of Venezuelan migrants 2:57

(CNN Spanish) - The Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) named the new rectors of the National Electoral Council (CNE) on Friday to organize the parliamentary elections scheduled for this year. The appointments take place a week after the judicial entity declared the legislative omission in the designation of the directive of the electoral body.

According to the Constitution, the process must take place in the National Assembly. The estimated time is about two months to fulfill all the requirements. However, the appointment occurred in less than 72 hours.

Indira Alfonzo is the new president of the CNE to replace Tibisay Lucena, who was over 14 years old as head of that public power and 15 years old as rector. In the vice presidency, Rafael Simón Jiménez was appointed and Tanía D 'Amelio, Gladys Gutiérrez and José Luis Gutiérrez Parra were the main rectors. Before this position, Indira Alfonzo and Gladys Gutiérrez were magistrates of the TSJ. In the case of Alfonzo, she served as president of the Electoral Chamber.

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The three new directors of the CNE, Alfonzo, D'Amelio and Gutiérrez, were sanctioned by the United States and Canada, among others, accused of participating in the political and economic deterioration of their nation. Therefore, there is an order to block their accounts in banks and a prohibition on making transactions with citizens of both countries.

Juan Guaidó, president of the National Assembly and recognized as interim president by at least 55 countries, assured this Friday that only the Nominations Committee of the National Assembly designates the CNE, and that they will not renounce that right. It considers that this decision hinders the possibility of solutions by attacking one of the conditions to get out of the crisis.

The president of the Nominations Committee, Ángel Medina, said that "this is a bad day for Venezuela" and that this "adds destruction to the country." "They have rejected an opportunity to build a way out of this disaster, to return power to Venezuelans inside and outside the country, to decide our destiny," Medina wrote on his Twitter account.

The legislative omission was declared after an alliance of Venezuelan minority parties, who identify themselves as opponents but distanced from Guaidó, requested it from the TSJ Constitutional Chamber to designate the new rectors of the National Electoral Council.

Democratic Action deputy Henry Ramos Allup called that CNE an ire for considering that it violates the Constitution. He insisted that only the National Assembly, chaired by Juan Guaidó, has the powers to lead this process. "The current Parliament will be in force by principle of continuity, as long as there is no constitutionally valid electoral process to replace it," said Ramos Allup.

By constitutional mandate this year, parliamentary elections must be held, elections that still have no date and whose execution, according to the questioned President Nicolás Maduro, will depend on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The appointment of the rectors of the CNE corresponds to the National Assembly, with an opposition majority since 2016. The process was delayed even more after the deputy Luis Parra, with the support of the official United Socialist Party of Venezuela, declared himself on January 5 President of the Legislative Branch without showing the list of the legislators who —he assures— voted for him, while Guaidó showed in a nominal vote the support of more than 100 of the 167 deputies. Still, on May 25 the TSJ validated Luis Parra's board of directors.

The Nominations Committee to appoint a new CNE was appointed by the National Assembly in March without taking an oath, contrary to what is required in the Organic Law of the Electoral Power. It is made up of deputies who recognize Guaidó, members of the PSUV ruling party, and legislators who support Parra. Guaidó recognizes the Nominations Committee, headed by Medina. Medina had already explained that they have not advanced in the process due to the political differences between the members, in addition to the impact of other problems such as the gasoline shortage and the covid-19 pandemic.

National Electoral Council