Venezuela: the opposition withdraws from the next legislative elections

The Venezuelan opposition, the majority in Parliament, announced on Sunday that it would withdraw from the planned legislative elections by the end of the year, an electoral process which it described as " farce ".

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" The Venezuelan democratic parties will not validate or recognize any electoral farce staged by the dictatorship (of the Chavista president Nicolás Maduro, editor's note) in its own interest, " said in a press release representatives of eleven political parties, including the four main parties. opposition. These groups castigate " the dictatorial pretension " of these elections intended to renew the National Assembly, a process which they say will " aggravate the current political crisis ".

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The Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) on Friday appointed new members to head the National Electoral Council (CNE), responsible for overseeing the poll for which no date has yet been set but which, by law, must be held this year. Accused by the opposition of being biased in favor of the Chavista power, the TSJ notably appointed a Canadian-sanctioned magistrate to head the CNE. In so doing, he assumed the prerogative of the National Assembly, the unicameral parliament of Venezuela, the only institution controlled by the opposition.

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" The time has come!" "Nicolás Maduro said on Saturday after the appointment of these new electoral authorities. " We must fight, united, with more force than ever, " tweeted his side the opposition leader Juan Guaido, recognized as interim president of Venezuela by fifty countries including the United States.

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The opposition had won the legislative elections of December 2015, winning 112 of the 167 seats in Parliament, for which Mr. Maduro is a “ usurper ” who remained in power for a second term in favor of a “ fraudulent presidential” In 2018.