UNT's board informing on its decision of withdrawing from opposition primaries. Photo: RedRadioVE.
Venezuelan political party Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT) has announced that it will not have a candidate in the opposition primary elections. Its leader and governor of Zulia state, Manuel Rosales, refused to register for the already-expired registration process—which ended on June 25—despite being among the three most popular opposition options, according to poll firms.
During a July 20 press conference, UNT vice-president, Luis Emilio Rondón, stated that the organization decided not to register its own candidacy for these internal elections.
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“We have decided that UNT will not register its own candidacy,” Rondón stated during the press conference, “and will open a waiting period in order to evaluate new actions that will follow.” He further clarified that they are not exiting the primaries process, but will wait to evaluate further actions to be taken.
Rondón added that “in due time,” the party will announce which candidate they will support in the primaries. Since last June, local political analysts have speculated about a possible alliance between Manuel Rosales and Henrique Capriles from the Justice First (PJ) party.
"En apego al dictamen de nuestras estructuras partidistas, hemos decidido que #UNT no inscribirá candidatura propia y abrirá un compás de espera para evaluar las nuevas acciones a seguir" detalló el vicepresidente del partido @rondonle#20Julio pic.twitter.com/OgPRCLgSqx
— Un Nuevo Tiempo (@partidoUNT) July 20, 2023
“According to our vision of the country,” Rondón said, “the option of who will represent us in the presidential election must be viable, motivating, and have a government program that starts in 2025.”
UNT registered a wild card candidate for the primary elections, while deciding whether to make the registration of the governor of Zulia, Manuel Rosales, official. Low chances of winning the 2024 presidential race and losing control over the second most important governorship of Venezuela are cited by political analysts as the main reasons behind the decision of Rosales to not register.
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The party had a deadline of 30 days to formalize its pre-candidacy registry. At that time, Luis Emilio Rondón stated that the candidacy of Manuel Rosales will be subject to the fulfillment of the conditions of the primary elections.
On Wednesday, Rosales made criticisms of the primaries registration process, stating that they do not have the technical support of the National Electoral Council (CNE). Rosales pointed out that due to the absence of the CNE, the voting centers that are typically used by the CNE in the elections are not available this time.
🔵 Manuel Rosales: no entraré al cuadrilátero de ataque de unos contra otros.
🗣️ "No deberíamos hacer elecciones debajo de un árbol o contando manualmente, sino que debe ser con un sistema automatizado".
📌 Vía: @MichelCaballero pic.twitter.com/FqHlQbvAc5
— 𝙋𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖 (@polianalitica) July 18, 2023
The governor’s statements have come after the National Primary Commission — a self-styled service to aid the opposition parties in the primary elections — opened a time period to find places to serve as voting centers for October 22.
“We should not be making elections under a tree or counting the votes manually,” Rosales said, “but it should be with an automated system.”
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/AU/BLA
