Far-Right Opposition Primary Commission Opts for Elections Without Venezuela’s National Electoral Council

Caracas, June 16, 2023 (OrinocoTribune.com)—Venezuelan far-right opposition’s National Primary Commission (CNP) announced that the opposition primaries voting process scheduled for October 24 will be manual and will be carried out without any technical assistance from the National Electoral Council (CNE) despite having announced the contrary less than two weeks ago.

At a Friday, June 16 press conference, José María Casal, president of the CNP, announced the decision, and placed the blame on the resignation of the CNE board on Thursday, May 15, despite the fact that some of the outgoing CNE rectors might be re-elected and that the current rectors will remain in their post until a new board is appointed.

“Today we ratify to the country that our commitment to hold the primary to elect a united candidacy remains intact,” Casal said. “The CNP will continue to promote the successful celebration of the election that will lead to the democratization of Venezuela.”

He further noted that “the primary election has been an initiative that has involved and motivated a large number of political and social actors.”

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Many opposition pre-candidates have expressed their opposition to holding primary elections without CNE’s technical assistance, firstly because the robustness and reliability of its platform, and secondly because CNE is the institution responsible of holding the 2024 presidential elections.

“The facts speak for themselves, the decision has been made to organize a self-managed election, this requires all of our time to guarantee success,” Casal stated, adding that the schedule will not be affected.

Casal also announced that there will be a public fundraiser for conducting the primaries. He specified that the collection will be done through online raffles and other methods, in which university students and Venezuelans abroad will participate.

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The voting abroad issue is very controversial because the lack of diplomatic relation in some countries, like the United States, will make it impossible for the Venezuelans living there to vote in the presidential elections, making their influence on the outcome of the primaries irrelevant in the presidential race.

Casal’s alternate resigns
On Friday morning, Rafael Arráiz Lucca, alternate for José María Casal in the CNP, resigned from his post, stating that without the National Electoral Council (CNE) and the polling stations, it will be impossible to carry out a “comprehensive election.”

Hasta hoy acompaño a la CNP en mi condición de suplente. Creo que sin el CNE, y los centros electorales, es imposible hacer la elección primaria de manera extendida. La PU podría optar por otro método para escoger el candidato presidencial de este sector de la oposición.
— Rafael Arraiz Lucca (@rafaelarraiz) June 16, 2023

However, during the press conference on Friday, CNP president Casal claimed that Arráiz has not officially submitted his resignation. “Professor Arráiz has not submitted his resignation,” he said. “We respect him very much as a person and we regret his decision, because of his valuable work in the Commission, but we would respect his personal decisions.”

Pre-candidates react
As expected, María Corina Machado, extreme right leader of Vente Venezuela party, rejoiced at the change of decision by the CNP. In a campaign rally in Lara state, Machado announced the decision, followed by a “Sí se puede” [Yes we can] chant from her supporters.

¡SÍ SE PUDO! 💪🏻 Hemos logrado un paso importantísimo: La @cnprimariave anunció que la primaria será autogestinada y sin CNE.
Escucha la reacción de los larenses ante esta noticia 💥@MariaCorinaYA desde Cabudare | #LaraConMariaCorina. pic.twitter.com/XKtFHM944R
— Vente Venezuela (@VenteVenezuela) June 16, 2023

Machado has been in an open clash with the CNP for its previous announcement of accepting CNE technical assistance for the opposition primaries. Therefore, the latest decision of the CNP is being considered a victory by the extreme right groups that support Machado.

Henrique Capriles, pre-candidate of Justice First party, posted on his social media accounts a pre-recorded statement supporting the CNP decision. “Our support for the National Primary Commission. Now more than ever we are called to be united and organized for Venezuela,” he wrote.

Nuestro apoyo a la Comisión Nacional de Primaria. Ahora más que nunca estamos llamados a estar unidos y organizados por Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/hS0xMPGZgY
— Henrique Capriles R. (@hcapriles) June 16, 2023

In the video, Capriles expressed his support for the CNP, affirming that its decisions are supported by him and his party. He called for “maximum unity” and “maximum commitment” of all pre-candidates, asking them to rise above personal interests, and highlighted the importance of “carefully reading the historic moment that Venezuela is living.”

The right-wing politician also announced that on Monday, Justice First will deliver a letter with its proposal to have “the most inclusive primary election,” as if anticipating that in the coming days the unity of the hard right sector of the Venezuelan opposition will be at stake.

Political analysts specializing in Venezuelan issues have been skeptical of the success of the opposition primaries, mainly because of the exclusion of opposition sectors wanting to participate in it. Now that the CNP has reversed its decision of coordinating with the CNE, the legitimacy and reliability of the results will become another obstacle against an acceptable outcome.

Orinoco Tribune Special by staff

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