Candidate Edmundo González Urrutia said that the ruling party leader may have the support of all state institutions, but he does not have the majority support of the citizens. “We will make the votes and the minutes count,” said María Corina Machado.
The presidential candidate of the Unitary Platform, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutiaand opposition leader María Corina Machado said on Thursday 25, three days before the elections, that they are “convinced” of a victory over Nicolás Maduro, whom they encouraged to recognize the results issued by the National Electoral Council.
“We are convinced of our victory and we are convinced that all the opinion polls we know give us a solid victory. Even if they play some tricks until July 27, they will not be able to close the gap between our candidacy and the official candidacy,” González said in a press conference with national and international media.
Furthermore, we will make the votes and the minutes count, concluded María Corina Machado, who pointed out that they are convinced that “the international community will support the truth of what happens. The international community will respect what the votes and the minutes say, and we also trust that the regime itself, that Nicolás Maduro himself, is interested in facilitating an orderly transition process and that a negotiation process is preferable.”
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He indicated that they are willing to begin these communications “immediately” after the opposition victory is confirmed, “to advance a transition process.” They agreed that “our spirit is not one of settling scores, nor of revenge or retaliation.”
González Urrutia said that the ruling party leader may have the support of all state institutions, but he does not have the majority support of citizens “who want a peaceful change.”
“To govern is not to fight, to govern is not to threaten, to govern is fundamentally to respect each and every citizen who lives in this country,” the diplomat recalled.
Regarding the role of the military sector, the candidate and the opposition leader said they trust “that the Armed Forces will respect the will of our people.” Both leaders also invited Venezuelans to mobilize early to the voting centers, support the electoral witnesses and send their reports to monitor the process on July 28.
Machado said that this is part of the seven tasks that citizens must have on election day. He also pointed out that the campaign, which began on July 4, was carried out “without mass media, without participation in national media. The people took ownership of this.”
Regarding national and international observation of the elections, Edmundo González described it as a “bad sign” that invitations to former presidents such as Alberto Fernández were withdrawn for political reasons, although he recalled that a delegation from the Carter Center and the UN Panel of Experts is present.
“We are counting on the observation of millions of Venezuelans and that will be the best observation we can have. The eyes of the Venezuelans who will be very attentive to everything that happens that day and we already know where the results will go,” the candidate reiterated.
For his part, Machado said that the Comando Con Venezuela invited more than 200 observers and just over 60 people from 12 nations confirmed their presence. They are expected to arrive in the country starting on Friday 26th.
Unitary agreement
The candidate, Machado, and representatives of the Unitary Platform signed an agreement on Thursday to guarantee seven basic points that must be met if they form a government, as well as the performance of the coalition of parties that supports the diplomat.
“The electoral victory of July 28 will open the doors to a period of democratization that will demand personal and civic virtues. We will seek an emotional, political and social climate that facilitates this and contributes to the common good,” says part of the document.
The seven basic points are based on the concepts of freedom, unity, consensus, civility, rule of law, reunion and sense of urgency. The parties insisted that unity must be strengthened in a new government to contribute to the democratization process.
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