The president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, proposed this Tuesday (13) a reform in the electoral laws with the aim that “no foreigner” can speak out on the elections held in the South American country.
Rodríguez, a member of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and one of President Nicolás Maduro’s closest allies, made the proposal more than two weeks after the July 28 presidential elections, in which the National Electoral Council (CNE) declared Maduro the winner without showing detailed data by center and polling station.
The opposition Plataforma Unitaria Democrática (PUD) rejects the result and claims that the real winner was Edmundo González Urrutia. The CNE’s announcement has also been questioned by some governments in the region — seven of which recognized González Urrutia as the winner — and by non-governmental organizations.
During the National Assembly session held on Tuesday, Rodríguez addressed some of these criticisms and insisted that Venezuela needs electoral reforms to prevent pronouncements that he considered violations of its sovereignty.
“I propose that we reform Venezuela’s electoral laws so that no foreigner can ever again speak out on anything to do with Venezuela’s elections. Why do they have to come? On what basis? What kind of capacity do they have?” he said.
Among other things, the congressman referred to statements by experts from the United Nations and the Carter Center, which he described as “garbage” after they questioned the CNE results. A few days after the elections, the Carter Center published the report of its electoral observation mission, which concluded that the dispute in Venezuela did not meet the parameters to be considered democratic.
UN Panel of Experts
A panel of United Nations electoral experts concluded that Venezuela’s elections failed to meet “basic measures of transparency and integrity” and warned that the failure to publish detailed results “is unprecedented in contemporary democratic elections.”
“In short, the CNE’s results management process fell short of the basic measures of transparency and integrity that are essential for conducting credible elections. It did not follow national legal and regulatory provisions and all stipulated deadlines were missed,” the panel’s report says.
The experts add in the document: “In the Panel’s experience, the announcement of an election result without publishing its details or disclosing the tabulated results to the candidates is unprecedented in contemporary democratic elections. This has had a negative impact on confidence in the result announced by the CNE among a large part of the Venezuelan electorate.”
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
