Venezuela’s opposition said it will hold primary elections in October in hopes of selecting a single candidate to rival Nicolas Maduro in the 2024 presidential vote.
(Bloomberg) — Venezuela’s opposition said it will hold primary elections in October in hopes of selecting a single candidate to rival Nicolas Maduro in the 2024 presidential vote.
The opposition’s vote will take place on Oct. 22, the head of the primary committee, Jesús Maria Casal, said on Wednesday during an event in Caracas. The committee plans to meet with Venezuela’s electoral authority, known as CNE, to discuss the possibility of using its polling stations, as well as its help in registering new voters.
Opposition leaders are now calling on Venezuelans to cast their ballots after years of boycotting elections on allegations of fraud and voter intimidation. The idea is for the primaries and the winning candidate to gain enough momentum so that Maduro is pressured into inviting independent observers and allowing banned opposition members to participate. Maduro is widely expected to be the Socialist Party’s candidate in 2024, his third bid for a six-year term.
The possibility that Venezuelans abroad participate in the primaries remains unresolved, Casal said. More than seven million citizens have left the country in the past decade, fleeing an unprecedented economic crisis.
Opposition candidates will be able to campaign between Aug. 22 and Oct. 20, Casal said. Some opposition members, such as Zulia state Governor Manuel Rosales and former lawmaker Maria Corina Machado have unofficially expressed their intentions to participate.
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