Opposition Intensifies Campaign against Venezuelan Electoral System

[Catherina]

Opposition Intensifies Campaign against Venezuelan Electoral System

By EWAN ROBERTSON

Mérida, 22nd March 2012 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – Police, pro-government and opposition students clashed on the streets of Caracas yesterday amid a growing opposition campaign against Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE).

...

In recent days opposition media and politicians have stepped up a campaign of criticism against the CNE and its president, Tibisay Lucena, alleging that the upcoming election will not be held under “fair” conditions.

Yesterday, opposition students presented CNE officials with a list of demands for a “transparent and fair” election. These included scrapping Venezuela’s automated SAE voting system, eliminating the use of fingerprints in the voting process, and ending the involvement of civilian militias in the election-day public security operation.

...

Also yesterday, representatives of Henrique Capriles’ campaign met with CNE officials to discuss thirteen proposals the opposition argues are necessary for a “fair” presidential election. Four of these proposals were accepted by the CNE.

Opposition spokesperson, Carlos Vecchio, said that the deal was “not enough” for the presidential election to be “fair and transparent”. The CNE has since agreed to further study the remaining proposals.

The criticisms of the CNE build upon previous declarations by opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, who accused the CNE’s president, Tibisay Lucena, of being favourable to the government. “We’re not being herded anywhere,” he warned her in relation to CNE rules on presidential candidate registrations.

Further, on Tuesday conservative daily El Nacional published a stinging editorial on Lucena titled “Lady Liar”, in which the CNE head was branded as “foolish” and “absent minded,” while public attention was drawn to her state of health.

The editorial, written by far-right journalist Miguel Henrique Otero, also called the CNE “a team chosen and armed by power [the government] to ambush the voter at every bend in the road”.

The opposition’s discourse toward the CNE in recent weeks is similar to comments made last Friday by the US’s Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson, who said that it would be “a little difficult” for “open, fair, and transparent elections” to be held on 14 April.

The comments from the opposition, in particular El Nacional’s editorial, have generated anger and condemnation by pro-government and more moderate circles of opinion.

Top CNE official Vicente Diaz, considered to be favourable to the opposition, called El Nacional’s editorial “deplorable and inconsiderate”.

During the presidential election last October the CNE received glowing praise from international electoral observation groups.

Former US president Jimmy Carter, head of the Carter Centre NGO, commented at the time, “Of the 92 elections that we’ve monitored, I would say the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world”.

He also praised Venezuela’s automated SAE voting system, which utilises manual and electronic security checks to prevent fraudulent voting.

Meanwhile, the electoral observation mission from the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) strongly endorsed Venezuela’s electoral system after the 7 October vote.

“Venezuela has given an exemplary demonstration of what the functioning of democracy is and has taught a lesson to the world, and this is important,” said the mission’s head, Argentine Carlos Alvarez.

Regarding the opposition’s recent criticisms of the CNE and Venezuela’s electoral system, pro-government media expert Oscar Lloreda claimed that this formed part of the opposition’s strategy due to the unlikelihood of them winning on 14 April.

Speaking on Latin American news channel Telesur, he argued, “They [the opposition] are calling on people to vote, but on the other hand they’re creating the conditions to not recognise the results in the case of a defeat”.

http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/8329


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Who didn't see this shit coming?

[idwiyo]

1. K&R how long will it take before someone here will start claiming that Carter is a commie and has

a 2 billion hidden somewhere paid to him by Government of Venezuela for favourable coverage of election process?

Not that long, I suspect.

[naaman fletcher]

5. Considering that I have not seem that here

I predict it won't happen at all

[idwiyo]

6. I wouldn't be surprised if it will. After all he is defending South American Enemy #1 of US.

Clearly he wouldn't do it unless he sold out. Or something like it.

[sabrina 1]

8. What we should be seeing here on the left is support for Carter's work in LA elections. But it is

noticeably never acknowledged by the anti-Chavez contingency, nor even mentioned. Omission of facts is sometimes as telling as open opposition to them.

[dipsydoodle]

2. They were fair last time

and this time will repeat that. Capriles should stick to Chardonnay if he wants to whine.

[djean111]

3. I wonder who is bankrolling the attempt to change the election process.

Chavez gone is only 50% of what the big money wants - now they have to ensure that another Chavez will not be elected.
Priebus is probably taking notes.
This is a GOP strategy all the way - if you can't win the popular vote fairly, then subvert it, demean it, count it differently, etc.
Of course, here, it doesn't seem to matter who "wins" - the results are either bad or very bad, big money has stacked the deck.

[newfie11]

4. sniff sniff

Betcha if sniffing hard enough ya might smell the CIA.

[idwiyo]

7. Don't even have to sniff that hard, can bloody smell it across the Pond right here in UK.

[Catherina]

9. They're right on cue

I bookmarked this under "Slime" last week

Posted on Saturday, 03.16.13

Venezuela election: A David vs. Goliath contest

BY ANDRES OPPENHEIMER
[e-mail]

...

In fact, the election to pick the successor of late President Hugo Chávez will be one of the most uneven electoral contests we have seen anywhere in recent times.

Consider:

First, acting President Nicolás Maduro, the government’s candidate, has manipulated the electoral agenda by extending Chávez’s mourning for several weeks. This gives a huge propaganda advantage to Maduro. He will not only benefit from the near deification of the late president in state-controlled media, but will also be able to use the daily government-organized ceremonies in Chávez’s memory to make nationally televised campaign speeches.

...

Fifth, the government has not allowed time for a thorough review of voter registration lists.

Venezuela has an unusually high number of registered voters — nearly 19 million in a country of 29 million — which has led opposition leaders to suspect that Cuban officials, who are officially in charge of Venezuela’s national identification system, are giving out more than one voter registration card to pro-government public employees.

Sixth, government intimidation of anti-Chávez voters is rampant. Defense Minister Diego Molero, whose armed forces will be in charge of protecting voting places on Election Day, said in a public ceremony on March 7 that Venezuela’s National Bolivarian Armed Forces are “anti-imperialist, socialist and Chavistas.”

...

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/16/3288655/venezuela-election-a-david-vs.html

[sabrina 1]

10. So transparent. Do you really think people are that stupid? They have learned nothing from defeat

after defeat over the past decade.