- Opposition alleges candidate barred; Maduro easily registers for election
- Electoral council denies registration for Corina Yoris, opposition’s choice
- Maria Corina Machado, disqualified from candidacy, condemns government’s interference
The principal opposition coalition in Venezuela asserts that its candidate was foreclosed from the presidential election in July.
On the electoral council’s website, the opposition Unitary Platform (PUD) reported that it could not register its candidate, Corina Yoris.
The PUD, whose leader, María Corina Machado, has been disqualified from standing for office, has suffered its most recent setback.
Polls have indicated that Ms. Machado might defeat President Nicolás Maduro if the election were conducted freely and equitably.
Preceding any obstacles, President Maduro effortlessly submitted his candidature for a third consecutive term in office.
Applauding him at a rally in the capital city of Caracas, which was attended by supporters donning the red hue emblematic of his socialist PSUV party, were his supporters.
Additionally, candidates from twelve minor parties were permitted to register; some of these parties are government-aligned, and none of them are considered to be formidable opponents to President Maduro.
Un Tiempo Nuevo (A New Era) party member and the governor of the state of Zulia, Manuel Rosales, was among those who successfully registered.
His last-minute candidature, presumably without informing the PUD coalition, of which Un Tiempo Nuevo is a member, surprised many.
In response to whether the opposition PUD would now rally behind Mr. Rosales, Ms. Machado stated, “My candidate is Corina Yoris.”
Machado contended that by impeding Ms. Yoris’s registration, President Maduro had “selectively determined” the opponent for his campaign. “They’re not [free] elections if the regime chooses the candidates,” according to her.
October marked a turning point for Ms Machado, 56, when the infamously divided opposition unified in support of her. She won over ninety per cent of the vote in an opposition-organized primary election.
The government of President Maduro declared the primary to be illegitimate. Since her overwhelming victory, the authorities have singled out Ms. Machado and members of her Vente Venezuela party.
In recent months, several regional campaign officials have been incarcerated.
Additionally, arrest warrants were issued last week for eight staff members, including her campaign manager, who is suspected of participating in a plot to depose President Maduro.
The ban that disqualifies María Corina Machado from standing for public office was upheld by the Supreme Court, an institution heavily composed of government loyalists.
Since 2013, President Maduro has resisted international pressure to permit Ms. Machado to compete in the presidential election that is set for July 28.
A month ago, he declared to his supporters, “We shall always prevail, whether by hook or crook.”
As the candidate registration deadline approaches rapidly and Ms Machado’s suspension remains in effect, the PUD selected Corina Yoris to replace her on Friday.
Academic Ms Yoris, who is eighty years old, is largely unknown, even within opposition circles. The coalition regarded her lack of political experience as a strength, contending that it posed a more significant challenge for her adversaries in their efforts to undermine her credibility.
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Despite this, she has already been required to refute claims that her place of birth was not Venezuela, a circumstance that would have rendered her ineligible to run for president.
As the deadline for registering her candidature loomed on Monday evening, the opposition coalition encountered an impasse.
The PUD demonstrated in social media videos how they attempted and failed to enter the electoral council website on multiple occasions to register Ms Yoris’s candidature.
A personal request for a deadline extension that was presented at the electoral council was denied.
The inability to register, according to Ms. Yoris, “violated” her rights as a Venezuelan citizen.
