105 Human Rights organizations of civil society and 152 activists issued a joint statement to support the call for a national agreement to address the political, economic, and social problems faced by Venezuela amid the expansion of the coronavirus and the deepening complex humanitarian crisis.
The document also expresses concern about the call for elections during the pandemic without complying with the norms, guarantees, and provisions contained in the current national Constitution.
“The processes advanced for the appointment of the new directive of the National Electoral Council (CNE) should have been the product of a broad agreement, and not a partial pact imposed by a single sector, which finally materialized, as on several previous occasions, with the intervention of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ). Additionally, this appointment put an end to a process that, amid many obstacles, had been advancing earlier this year in the National Assembly through a plural Nominations Committee”.
“Besides, the TSJ granted legislative powers to the new CNE, which constitutes a serious violation of our legal system,” the document states.
Likewise, the statement highlighted the inconvenient appropriation of competences outside the current legal order by the new authorities of the CNE, materialized in decisions such as the increase of the number of deputies from 167 to 277, which violates article 186 of the Constitution, as well as article 298, which expressly states that there can be no modifications in the electoral rules 6 months before an election.
The signatories warn that five months is little time to carry out elections, especially in times of pandemic, noting that: “this circumstance brings with it important new challenges, which add to the political, economic, and technical circumstances that must be faced for the organization of the electoral process”, in addition to immediate consequences as various groups and movements express their mistrust and the possible decision of not taking part in the next electoral event because it does not meet the requirements of impartiality, transparency, and reliability.
The statement concludes by stating that: “Political conflict is the main origin of the crisis experienced in all areas of social life. The need to reach much-needed agreements is, literally speaking, not only a political obligation but a moral duty, as various voices of society have expressed it. The magnitude and consequences of the precarious situation that overwhelms the majority of Venezuelans requires it. “
You can read the full statement in Spanish HERE.
Translated by: José Rafael Medina.
