Opposition Parties Declare Withdrawal

Yesterday electoral observers from the Organization of American States (OAS) said with the removal of the scanners the voting machines were completely safe and reliable to use. An OAS spokesperson said yesterday, “The secrecy of the vote in this process will not be violated.”

A statement the OAS Observer Mission released today urged all parties to participate in the election. It went on to state, “The Mission wishes to express its satisfaction with the conclusions reached in the dialogue between the CNE and the political parties because it demonstrates that via permanent participation it is possible to develop a transparent and secure electoral system.”

After the OAS announcement, many opposition parties agreed to participate. Copei, a Christian democratic party, and AD, a social democratic party, decided not to. A majority of each party’s executive committee voted not to participate in the elections.

AD representatives who voted against participation said the decision was a “messy” one. They said the upcoming election is, “a trap to whip us.” They also said they did not want to repeat what happened with the Presidential recall referendum in 2004, which was a failure for the opposition.

AD is currently the largest opposition party in the National Assembly, with 23 of the 79 opposition-held seats. The coalition supporting President Chavez holds 86 out of the National Assembly’s 165 seats.

With the exit from the elections of two of the principal opposition parties, the main anti-government group now taking part is Primero Justicia (Justice First), a libertarian-conservative party. Julio Borges, Primero Justicia’s leader and presidential candidate for 2006, said he tried to convince AD to stay in the election but was unsuccessful. Remainder of article VenezuelaAnalysis

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