Venezuela opposition overcomes hurdles to register candidate
Venezuela’s primary opposition coalition has successfully enrolled a candidate for the upcoming July presidential election following the disqualification of its initial two nominees.
The Unitary Platform (PUD) announced the registration of former diplomat Edmundo González after an extension of the registration deadline.
Describing Mr. González as its “interim” candidate, the PUD suggested the possibility of a replacement before the election.
The eventual candidate will face off against the incumbent President Nicolás Maduro.
Initially, the PUD had endorsed María Corina Machado as its candidate to challenge Mr. Maduro’s presidency, which began in 2013.
Ms. Machado emerged victorious in an opposition primary held in October, securing over 90% of the votes, and managed to unify the typically fragmented opposition factions.
However, her candidacy was later invalidated by the Supreme Court, dominated by government supporters, upholding a ban preventing her from seeking public office.
Despite international pressure, President Maduro has remained steadfast in maintaining the ban on Ms. Machado.
Addressing his supporters recently, President Maduro asserted his determination to secure victory in the upcoming election.
As the deadline for candidate registration loomed and with Ms. Machado’s disqualification standing, the PUD selected Corina Yoris as her replacement last Friday.
Ms Yoris, an 80-year-old academic, is relatively unknown even in opposition circles. The fact that she is a newcomer to politics was seen as an asset by the coalition, which argued that this made it harder for her opponents to discredit her.
But when it came to registering her candidacy by the deadline set for Monday evening, however, the opposition coalition hit a wall.
In videos uploaded to social media, the PUD showed how they repeatedly tried and failed to log into the electoral council website to register Ms Yoris’s candidacy.
One of the parties which forms part of the coalition, however, was granted an extension and was able to log into the system to register Mr González.
A variety of other parties were also able to file candidates bringing the total number of presidential candidates to 13, but some of them are aligned to the government and are not thought to be serious challengers to President Maduro.
The PUD said in a statement that the candidacy of Mr González was “provisional… given the clear impossibility of registering the chosen candidate so far”, suggesting the former diplomat was chosen as a placeholder.
Parties can make changes to their presidential ticket until 20 April and the opposition coalition is expected to replace him with a unity candidate.
Another politician who was successful in registering, Manuel Rosales, has already announced that he would be willing to give up his place on the ballot in favour of a unity candidate.
