Observers highlight the participation of the opposition in regional and local elections, although they also denounce that they have detected a series of irregularities.
The European Union Election Observation Mission has found that Democratic conditions have improved in Venezuela’s regional and local elections with respect to previous elections, although they have also detected a series of irregularities.
“If the Venezuelan legal framework complies with most international standards, the mission has been able to contract the lack of judicial independence, the non-adherence to the rule of law and that some laws affected the equality of conditions and the transparency of the elections,” The head of the mission, the Portuguese Socialist MEP, has assured Isabel Santos, in the presentation of the preliminary report.
In addition, it has indicated that the arbitrary disqualification of some candidates by administrative means has been registered and that some leaders have seen their control of their electoral card withdrawn.
According to the EU’s vision, the electoral campaign ahead of the November 21 vote was marked “for the extended use of State resources”, without the National Electoral Council having adopted sanctions to avoid this imbalance.
However, the Portuguese socialist has wanted to emphasize that this electoral process, the first in 15 years with the presence of European observers, has been held in better conditions than previous elections.
The regional and local votes, which have been resolved with the Chavista triumph in 20 of the 23 territories of the country, they represent a “crucial test” for the return of the majority of opposition forces to the electoral contest, after the legislative boycott of December 2020 whose result the EU did not recognize.
“The elections have passed with better conditions compared to previous electoral processes,” the Portuguese MEP stressed, while highlighting that the new composition of the CNE makes this body the more “balanced” in the last 20 years, “which is key to rebuilding confidence in political life.”
The European mission has had 136 observers deployed in the 23 states of the country and has visited 665 voting centers throughout the country.
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