Mr Yuri Pimentel, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister to Africa of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, says the opposition and all sectors are fully participating in its Nov.21, Regional and Municipal Elections.
Pimentel said this on Saturday in Caracas, while addressing International Observers as part of the activities of the Nov. 21, elections.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Venezuela has invited over 500 International observers from across the world to witness its credible and transparent elections to avoid any form of sabotage.
Pimentel said that the participation of the opposition is a huge success to Venezuela’s democracy as it shows that its once threatened democracy is now peaceful and stable.
The Minister explained that the opposition had backed out of the democratic process of the country after they lost the elections in 2017.
“This election normal is not one that should be so attractive to invite so many people but as you know, Venezuela for a long time, we are at the centre of oppress and attack of imperialism.
“The last elections of ten years ago, the imperialist used the social networks weapon against the people and the electoral process.
“That is why this election is so important and we have invited the world to come and see how credible our electoral system is for themselves.
“And, another thing that makes it very important is that in 2017, we had a similar election like the one we are going to have on Sunday.
“We chose Governors, we chose Mayors and the opposition had a very big defeat. We had 23 Governors and they just won 3.
“It was a huge defeat and after that they said they were not going to participate in elections again, they tried to sabotage the process in 2018.
“In 2019 they tried to sabotage the Presidency of Maduro with the help of the imperialist.
“Then last year, a big sector of the opposition decide to participate in the Parliamentary elections. Then this year, all the sectors of opposition, even the most extreme ones are participating.
“For us, this reality is very good because as President Maduro said, we forced them to come back to the democracy and to play under the rules of democracy,” Pimentel said.
Pimentel said Venezuela has, however, invited the world to follow the process of the electoral system form before the close of the campaign, the setting of the polls and the ballot proper.
He added that Venezuela hays always practiced credible polls with the system in place that makes it impossible to manipulate results.
“As you will observe in the elections, our system is a very strong and transparent one and there is no possibility of changing votes in the system.
“So, if someone that looses the election starts crying fraud, please know that this is part of the ploy against our democracy.
“Each polling center is managed by the National Electoral Council but all the political parties including the opposition have witnesses that participate in each Centres and they all sign at the final result.
“In each of the 17 audits, it is transmitted for everyone that want to see and with the witnesses of all the parties that they agree.
So all the opposition and all the sectors are part of the electoral process since day one , till the day of the elections and after the elections.
“We lost the Parliamentary elections in 2015, the opposition won and we accepted the results. President Maduro immediately said it was the decision of the majority.
“He accepted the result and opened arms to work with the new assembly which is going to be controlled by the opposition because we respect the system.
“Without knowing the outcomes of the results, President Maduro has already said two weeks ago that the results will be announced the next day and everyone should accept the the results,” Pimentel said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) is the majority party while the Democratic Unity Roundtable (UNIDAD) is the opposition.
Source: News Agency of Nigeria