Elections in Venezuela: what does the country choose on Sunday 6 December?

Legislative elections will be held in Venezuela on December 6, a controversial day in the midst of a pandemic that has not been recognized by the opposition and which is branded a farce by the Organization of American States and the European Union.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) reported that everything is ready for the legislative elections on December 6 and called on citizens to vote on that day. “So, ladies and gentlemen, Venezuelans, we want to tell you that everything is ready. Only she is missing, with her vote, with her decision, so much so that on 6 December we will elect the parliamentarians of the National Assembly “, the president of the CNE, Indira Alfonzo told the press.

Alfonzo also reiterated that on voting day they will have all the protective measures against covid-19. 20,710,421 Venezuelans will be called to vote in next Sunday’s elections and, according to analysts’ estimates, abstention predominates in the political landscape.

What do Venezuelans choose?

At stake this Sunday is the renewal of the members of the National Assembly, whose majorities are now in the hands of the opposition. Those elected this December 6 will serve for the period 2021-2026. Until this year, Parliament had 167 deputies, but Nicolás Maduro, according to the opposition, in an attempt to wrest control from the opposition has increased the number of deputies to 277, a 66% increase in MPs.

See more: Henrique Capriles calls for postponement of elections in Venezuela

Before Hugo Chávez came to power in 1999 and extinguished both Houses, Congress and the Senate had a total of 260 lawmakers.

The regime of Nicolás Maduro has given another blow to democracy, violating Article 186 of the Constitution which speaks of a demographic base of 1.1% and deliberates 167 deputies for the national territory which has a population of almost 32 million inhabitants , analysts explain.

Who can participate?

The National Electoral Council (CNE) has confirmed that 86 political parties will participate in the elections and that the new formula for the election of offices will be 52% through proportional representation (list) and 48% with personalized vote (nominal). Before the announcement, the voting system was 70% nominal and 30% slate, an unbalanced model, because according to the CNE “a party won more seats than it was entitled to when it managed to win by one vote” .

However, 27 opposition parties, including those disqualified and which refused to participate in the elections, signed a letter in which they denounced “the electoral farce”. Primero Justicia, of which Henrique Capriles is a part; Voluntad Popular, led by Leopoldo López; as well as the social democrats Acción Democrática and Un Nuevo Tiempo refused to participate this Sunday.

Part of what the opposition denounced is that “for the 2015 parliamentary electoral process, democratic unity consolidated its victory with the use of the UNIT card. The use of this card has been hijacked by the regime, preventing its use due to precautionary measures, and the administrators representing the UNIT as an organization are still subject to criminal prosecution.

According to Maduro, there are 14,400 candidates who have signed up.

Does the opposition participate?

The Venezuelan opposition, led by the head of parliament, Juan Guaidó, rejects the elections because, among other issues, the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) intervened several critical parties of the government, and confronted former militants who were been expelled and accused of being corrupt.

The elections were also contested by the majority of the country’s opposition, lthe Organization of American States (OAS) and the European Union (EU) as they believe it will be a “farce”. There is also another group of parties which has started a process of dialogue with the government and which has chosen to participate in the elections.

Head of the opposition parliament recognized as president in office of Venezuela by more than 60 countries, Guaidó is not a candidate in next Sunday’s legislative elections, which he denounces as “a fraud”, and is betting everything on a plebiscite with which he wants to approve a ‘ extending the period of the current National Assembly and promoting new sanctions against the government of the socialist president Nicolás Maduro.

“We could hardly call this process an election” on December 6, the leader said. “Maduro’s goal isn’t even legitimacy,” but “To annihilate the democratic alternative in Venezuela” with some votes in which he hopes to end the majority of the Legislature’s opposition, he argues.

What is Juan Guaidó betting on?

A new Parliament will be installed next year that will certainly be dominated by Chavismo, given the refusal of the main opposition political parties to nominate candidates. The United States has already announced that it will ignore it and the European Union has asked, unsuccessfully, to postpone the legislative elections.

See more: Opposition in Venezuela, a puzzle no one knows how to put together

Guaidó’s challenge is to save its validity with the consultation he promotes, scheduled for December 7-12, without the support of the electoral authorities, which he accuses of serving Maduro.

What is Maduro being played?

The ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) has called on its supporters to vote “with discipline”, announcing only that they will comply with all health regulations for COVID-19.

According to the vice-president of the PSUV, Diosdado Cabello, the opposition will be defeated, both “the one that calls not to vote, because people go out to vote”, and “the one that participates because it is not prepared, because they too bet on the coup. state “.

Many of these parties like Patria Para Todos (PPT) or Unified Tendencies to Reach the Organized Revolutionary Action Movement (Tupamaro) were also intervened by the TSJ, whose members were elected in an express process and are considered open supporters of chavismo.

The Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV), a traditional ally of the PSUV and which Cabello did not mention directly, formed an alliance that includes several Chavista organizations, the People’s Revolutionary Alliance (APR), backed by the directives of the PPT and Tupamaro who they were chosen by the militants.

Maduro’s goal is to recover the National Assembly, which has been in the hands of the opposition since 2005. But its management in government, the COVID-19 crisis and the economic and social crisis suggest that this Sunday’s vote will be very low.