The campaign for local and regional elections held last Sunday (21) in Venezuela was marked by the “extensive use of state resources”, as reported on Tuesday (23) by the head of the European Union Election Observation Mission (EOM- EU), Isabel Santos.
“The campaign was marked by the extensive use of state resources, despite the legal framework establishing sanctioning powers for the financing and publicity of the campaign,” Santos said at a press conference in Caracas.
The preliminary report of the EOM-EU presented by the Portuguese MEP states that there was “delivery of goods such as food packaging, gas cylinders and water pumps”, which affected “the equality of conditions”.
“The campaign of the ruling party was predominant throughout the country and had a mobilized base and, in some cases, with the participation of public officials”, emphasizes the document.
Santos highlighted that, despite the legal framework establishing sanctioning powers for the financing of campaigns and publicity to the National Electoral Council (CNE), “there were no sanctions for violations”.
For this reason, and without wanting to “anticipate the recommendations of the final report”, he considered that this “shows that the CNE needs to be strengthened in its sanctioning powers”.
The report indicates that “the coverage of the governing party”, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), “was dominant and disproportionately favorable on state television and very significant on the privately monitored radio and television stations”.
“In addition to the unbalanced coverage, the constant presence of the PSUV vice president (Diosdado Cabello) in state-owned media, in which he directed fierce attacks against political opponents and even against a CNE dean, goes against international standards of impartial coverage of state communication vehicles”, he adds.
Cabello runs a weekly program on the state channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), “Con el mazo dar”, in which he frequently attacks opponents, NGOs and activists.
First mission in 15 years
Santos emphasized that this is the first observation mission sent by the EU to Venezuela in 15 years and that “it has been possible thanks to the invitation of the CNE”.
“I understand that this has also been the result of a process of dialogue between Venezuelan political actors. All actors”, he explained.
She said that the preliminary report presented on Tuesday “cannot be used for political purposes”, as “it is a technical approach to the electoral context and the electoral moment”, as well as “a useful tool to improve” future elections.
The MEP explained that during election day, EU observers were present in the 23 states of Venezuela and in Caracas, which has its own regime, and that they visited 665 polling centers, covering more than 1,318 tables.
Finally, the preliminary report states that “the lack of judicial independence and the disregard for the rule of law negatively affected the level playing field and the fairness and transparency of elections”.
“In these elections, the suspension of the candidates’ rights mainly affected the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) and the dissident parties of the governmental coalition”, he concludes.
According to the study, “the electoral process showed the persistence of structural deficiencies, although electoral conditions have improved compared to the three previous national elections”.
These deficiencies include decisions by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) to intervene in several of the main opposition parties, whose initials, colors and names were given to militants expelled by former comrades and accused of corruption.
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source https://pledgetimes.com/eu-mission-says-use-of-state-machine-unbalanced-elections-in-venezuela/
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