Front view of the headquarters of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) of Venezuela in Caracas. File photo.
The Venezuelan government and the Unitary Platform of the far-right opposition agreed on a procedure to review the political disqualifications of opposition politicians through a legal procedure at the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ).
The parties agreed on a “procedure to ask for the review of the disqualification measures issued against several people who aspire to run as candidates in the 2024 presidential elections,” stated a communiqué issued by the embassy of Norway in Mexico on Thursday, November 30. Norway is a mediator country in the negotiations between the Venezuelan government and the opposition.
Como facilitador del Proceso de Diálogo y Negociación de #Venezuela, Noruega confirma recepción del siguiente procedimiento, conforme al Acuerdo Parcial sobre la Promoción de Derechos Políticos y Garantías Electorales para Todos. pic.twitter.com/bpeR8lN1hM
— Noruega en MX y CA (@NoruegaMexCA) December 1, 2023
The communiqué was quoted by Jorge Rodríguez and Gerardo Blyde, heads of the government and opposition delegations, respectively.
Jorge Rodríguez, head of the Venezuelan government delegation, stated in his X account, “Today we have taken another step in the right direction, ratifying what was agreed in Barbados, to implement the decisions of the institutions, the rule of law and the Constitution in Venezuela. We continue to move forward. Within the Constitution everything, outside the Constitution nothing.”
Gerardo Blyde, head of the opposition delegation, stated in a post, “The Barbados Agreement determined that a way should be established to enable presidential candidates to be swiftly qualified. The precedent with precautionary protection is in the Manuel Rosales case granted with the admission of the appeal. We move forward!”
Blyde shared a link to a judgment of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) of Venezuela, issued on October 30, 2017, in which the Political-Administrative Chamber of the TSJ admitted a claim for annulment against a disqualification issued by the Comptroller General of the Republic against politician Manuel Rosales, allowing him to run for governor of Zulia State, a position he currently holds.
Disqualified politicians have to appeal before Supreme Court of Justice
According to the document released by the Norwegian Embassy in Mexico, a procedure has been established by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) of Venezuela to review the disqualifications that had been handed by the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR).
As agreed by the Venezuelan government and the opposition, each one of the “interested parties,” that is, politicians seeking annulment of their disqualification, has to personally go to the Political-Administrative Chamber of the TSJ to file an appeal against the disqualification imposed on them, “accompanied by a precautionary protection,” between December 1 and 15. Then the Chamber “will rule on the admission of the claim and the requested injunction, in accordance with the principles of celerity, efficiency, and effectiveness.”
The procedure requires the plaintiffs to refrain from incorporating, both in their pleadings and in public statements, “offensive or disrespectful concepts against the institutions of the State.”
Furthermore, each one of the petitioners has to commit to “respect the Constitution,” “to honor and defend the homeland,” “abide by the decision of the TSJ emanating from this appeal,” and “reject any form of violence in their political exercise.”
An unofficial translation of the statement is provided below:
Procedure for the review of the disqualification measures issued by the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic
In the “Partial Agreement on the Promotion of Political Rights and Electoral Guarantees for All,” signed in Barbados on October 17, 2023, The Parties, designated as the “Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela” and the “Unitary Platform of Venezuela,” agreed that:
Authorization shall be promoted to all presidential candidates and political parties, provided that they comply with the established requirements to participate in the presidential election, consistent with the procedures established in the Venezuelan Law, also in accordance with the principles of celerity, efficiency, and effectiveness contained in the Constitution.
In order to implement the aforementioned agreement, The Parties have agreed on the following procedure to seek the review of the disqualification measures issued by the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic, to various persons who aspire to run as candidates in the 2024 presidential elections (The Interested Parties)
- Each one of The Interested Parties shall personally appear before the Political-Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice to exercise the corresponding administrative appeal against the measure of disqualification issued by the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic, accompanied by a request for precautionary protection, within the period established from December 1 to December 15, 2023, in continuous and successive days.
- The Political-Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice will rule on the admission of the claim and the requested precautionary protection, in accordance with the principles of celerity, efficiency, and effectiveness set forth in the Constitution.
- In the lawsuit filed, and in public statements, the Interested Parties shall refrain from incorporating offensive or disrespectful concepts against the institutions of the State, in compliance with the provisions of the Organic Law of the Supreme Court of Justice.
- Each one of The Interested Parties commits to:
a. Respect the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the laws.
b. Comply with the duty to honor and defend the homeland, its symbols and cultural values; to safeguard and protect the sovereignty, nationality, territorial integrity, self-determination and interests of the Nation, as set forth in Article 130 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
c. Abide by the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice emanating from this appeal within the constitutional framework.
d. Reject any form of violence in their political exercise, as well as any type of actions that attempt against the sovereignty, peace and territorial integrity of Venezuela.
General considerations
This document complements the electoral conditions agreed upon in the Partial Agreement on the Promotion of Political Rights and Electoral Guarantees for All, subscribed between the Parties.
(Alba Ciudad) by Luigino Bracci Roa
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/JRE
Luigino Bracci
He is passionate about computer science since he was about 14 years old, at that age “a man gave me a small computer that he had bought in the eighties, of those that were connected to a television and had to be programmed to work (a Sinclair ZX81 ), and I really liked it.” On his political inclination, his parents were a great influence. “They were people of very humble origins, both emigrants, dissatisfied with injustice and inequality. But they were not militants of the left. I had many other influences, classmates in HS whose parents were on the left, as well as several teachers who were trained in the Pedagogical and gave us classes at a time as conflictive as it was the presidency of CAP and the military insurrection of Chávez ” He enrolled in the UCV and in 2006 he graduated in Computing, a career that he complements with popular communication in the digital field.
