Venezuela: Opposition and National Electoral Council Agree to Joint Primaries Commission

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) and the opposition’s National Primary Commission (CNP) agreed to install a joint commission to discuss the technical aspects of the opposition primary elections.

During a joint press conference, CNE President Elvis Amoroso reported that they held a very professional exchange meeting, where they agreed to set up a joint commission that will start meeting on Tuesday morning.

Venezuela’s Electoral Authorities to Provide Technical Assistance to Opposition Primaries

This Monday, September 2, Amoroso explained that in the upcoming meetings, they will evaluate all the technical aspects related to an electoral process, with all the logistics needed to support the CNP.

“The installation of this joint table was agreed upon, starting tomorrow at 10 o’clock in the morning. We will provide information to the people from the CNE, which will be the place where this meeting of the technical commission will be held,” said the President of the Electoral Power.

🗳️ Elvis Amoroso: se acordó instalar una comisión mixta entre el CNE y la Plataforma Unitaria.
🗣️ A partir de mañana vamos a discutir los aspectos técnicos y toda la logística para apoyar las primarias.
📌 Vía @VPITV pic.twitter.com/dbE9ynCHar
— 𝙋𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖 (@polianalitica) September 25, 2023

For his part, the president of the CNP, Jesús María Casal, confirmed that they attended at the invitation of the CNE, which they requested on June 5 in order to establish a joint technical commission to verify the conditions for possible assistance.

“We have appeared today and tomorrow in that technical commission to have an exchange concerning the progress of the primaries,” Casal said.

He confirmed that as the conversations with the Electoral Power progress, they will report the details.

Compartimos la declaración del presidente de la CNPrimaria, @jesusmariacasal a la salida de la reunión solicitada por el Consejo Nacional Electoral ⬇️⬇️⬇️https://t.co/SncCsf5VDu
— Comisión Nacional de Primaria VE (@cnprimariave) September 25, 2023

The joint statement comes after the CNE announced this Friday that they unanimously approved to provide technical support in the upcoming internal elections of the opposition. Amoroso confirmed that the CNE’s decision follows the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic and the Organic Law of Electoral Processes.

The CNE’s technical assistance comes amid multiple reports of irregularities in the organization of the opposition’s internal elections. This “lack of conditions” caused the resignation of several presidents of CNP’s regional boards.

Cardinal Baltazar Porras Criticizes Organization of Opposition Primaries

PSUV comments
This Monday, United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) Vice President Diosdado Cabello commented on the new approach between the CNE and the CNP. He saluted the meeting and questioned that some opposition groups want to use the CNE assistance without fingerprint scanners, which, in his opinion and that of electoral experts, jeopardizes the integrity of Venezuela’s electoral system.

When asked about the feasibility of success in the opposition’s internal electoral process, Cabello responded that if everything were on track in organizing the opposition primaries, the CNP would not have opted to meet with the CNE. On July 16, Venezuela’s opposition announced that they would organize its primaries without the support of the CNE. Days earlier, they announced the contrary.

The CNP used changes in the CNE board as an excuse for its decision, despite the outgoing CNE board clarifying that all open processes will continue during the transition. Many analysts in Venezuela see the CNP decision as the result of pressures from pre-candidate María Corina Machado, who has rejected the CNE for years, disregarding the CNE mandate to run all presidential elections.

(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JRE/SF