The announced opposition primaries are becoming another of the failures accumulated by this political sector, in its eagerness to displace Chavismo from power. After announcing eight candidates in the race, the polls are empty before an avalanche of retirees.
After the withdrawal of the Fuerza Vecinal party for not having a candidate, Copei’s doubts and Benjamin Rauseo’s resignation from participating in the primaries, the race is reduced to a handful of pre-candidates who will be measured in an improvised and unreliable process.
At this point, María Corina Machado and Henrique Capriles Radonski seem to be the confirmed candidates in the race, after it was decided to go ahead with the call for primaries without the participation of the National Electoral Council (CNE).
The comedian Benjamín Rauseo announced that he is withdrawing from the primaries, but not from the race for the presidency of the Republic. Rauseo expressed his decision to stay out of the opposition primaries through a statement, in which he declared “I pass and win”, referring to skipping the pre-selection process. He added that he will launch independently.
For the Fuerza Vecinal party, the mayor of Baruta and member of that political organization, Darwin González, said that not only will they not nominate their own candidate, but they will not support any other standard-bearer for the contest either.
For Copei, Juan Carlos Alvarado, general secretary of the green awning, expressed his concern about the improvisation of the opposition primaries and pointed out that in the coming days they will issue a definitive position on their participation in the process.
Primary: the bonfire of the vanities
With the escape of Juan Guaidó, the Popular Will party was left without a candidate, which adds another loss to the primaries. With the withdrawal of Rauseo, the lack of a candidate from Fuerza Vecinal, Copei’s doubts and the weakness of Acción Democrática candidate Carlos Prosperi, the situation seems to leave María Corina Machado and Henrique Capriles Radonski alone.
In the latest polls, behind the “None” and “Doesn’t know” options, Machado was the option of those surveyed with a weak 22%, followed very far by Capriles with 5.7% behind Rauseo and Manuel Rosales, who still It is not known if he will maintain his intention to participate in the primaries.
In this scenario, two of the opposition politicians with the most rejection among Venezuelan voters would be left participating in a process that will not have the usual electoral centers, and in exchange will enable the headquarters of non-governmental organizations and churches for the voting to take place. .
Primary: “The path of the lie”
The opposition deputy of the National Assembly, José Gregorio Correa, stated that the primaries without the CNE are “a path of deceit and we are all going to drop our faces with shame for not agreeing to have a candidate.”
The parliamentarian’s statements were issued in a private media outlet, in which he added that “what there are are exclusive primaries, division and insults on the one hand and on the other, can we win with that? We can not”.
He wondered where the voters will go to vote? And who is going to count the votes?, in reference to the absence of the governing body of the elections in the country.
He said that the advantage of having the CNE is that it would be known how many people participated in the primary process, but “now voting in a box, you put the number,” he said about the organizers of the process.
