CARACAS.– The request for the suspension of the elections presidential and any other electoral process in Venezuela, made before him Supremowould violate rights enshrined in the Constitution and the laws, say lawyers, and can be interpreted as another sign of the use of the Judiciary to boycott the upcoming elections.
This June 19, 38 days before the presidential elections set for July 28, Jaime González, deputy of the National Assembly chaired by Chavista Jorge Rodríguez, presented to the Supreme Court a request for constitutional protection for an alleged violation of guarantees and the “temporary suspension” of the elections “until all US unilateral coercive measures cease.”
It specifies the executive orders and embargoes, that is, the sanctions imposed by the US government.
The petition by González, a member of the parliamentary faction of the Copei party, intervened by the Supreme Court close to the regime in 2015 and supposedly “dejudicialized” 10 years later, occurred on the same day that the CNE summoned the presidential candidates to sign the questioned “ Results Recognition Agreement” that the unitary opposition candidate, Edmundo González, has refused to sign.
Suspension of elections, extension of mandate
Political scientist Luis Salamanca, university professor, warned that the request to suspend the elections is, from a legal point of view, “a violation of the intangible and untouchable human right” that is provided for in the Constitution and the Pact of San José.
The constitutional norm (art. 337) establishes that the president may decree states of exception that temporarily restrict guarantees, “except those referring to the rights to life, prohibition of incommunicado or torture, the right to due process, the right to information and others human rights intangibles”, such as the right to have elections.
These rights also imply respect for the Pact on Civil and Political Rights, known as the Pact of San José, and the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights signed by Venezuela, which has not been denounced by the Maduro regime, that is, which still applies to Venezuela. the Venezuelan State.
“Not even in states of exception, which is the most compromised for the rule of law, can the intangible human right of 21 million Venezuelans to elect their president be restricted, much less suspended.”
Furthermore, the States of Exception Law provides that the rights to life, including freedom of thought, conscience and religion, participation and suffrage, cannot be restricted in accordance with the Constitution and treaties.
But, in light of political analysis, it could generate a situation in which the president’s mandate would be unconstitutionally extended beyond six years, Salamanca said.
“What is being asked is that the elections be suspended until all sanctions are suspended, that is, that they remain without a fixed date.”
Illegal and disruptive request
The law professor and former parliamentarian of Copei, Nelson Chitty La Roche, assured that González’s request lacks any legal basis, after ensuring that he does not know the plaintiff, a substitute parliamentarian little known in the parliamentary field, as was known.
“There is no way that we can demand that an electoral process be suspended because there are sanctions, given that these have been in force for years and we have had national, regional and municipal elections; Consequently, there does not seem to be any legal basis for that,” he expressed while condemning “the initiative of a sniper who has decided to disturb the atmosphere of the electoral process in which it is clear that Edmundo González enjoys the popularity of the majority of Venezuelans. ”.
“In 2018 there were sanctions and Maduro was elected without them preventing the holding of elections. They are afraid of the elections and there are some who dare to make an outburst.”
He recalled that for more than 10 years, not only have citizens been criminalized, but politics has also been judicialized,” he added.
The request before the Supreme Court, in the midst of recent arbitrary arrests and the opening of criminal proceedings, is not new.
On March 18, Luis Ratti, a politician close to Chavismo, requested the annulment of the MUD card that the candidacy of Edmundo González presented, before the Constitutional Chamber of the Court that has not yet ruled, but from which there have been calls alert.
Also in 2023, the Supreme Court suspended the electoral process of the opposition’s Primary, after opening an investigation against the organizers. The ruling was issued on October 30, 2023, nine days after the process in which leader María Corina Machado was elected by majority vote.
Source: Interviews with Luis Salamanca and Nelson Chitty la Roche, with information from networks
