Within the framework of the Citizen Platform project, the organizations Espacio Civil and Mujer y Ciudadania convened the forum What is the National Commission of Primaries?with the intention of encouraging participation in the electoral process on October 22.
The forum was moderated by lawyer Juan Carlos Vidal, former councilor of the Sucre municipality and an ally of MyC activities and actions. The speakers were the emeritus magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice, Román Duque Corredor, and the former candidate for mayor of the Sucre municipality, Andrés Schloeter.
For Dr. Duque Corredor, it is essential that the opposition movement act jointly to achieve success in the primaries and in the 2024 presidential electoral process “civil society in alliance with the leaders of political parties is a powerful tool to promote the changes that the country claims. Abstention is not the alternative, it is very harmful”.
Primary candidates must build messages with values
He stressed that at this time when more than 70% of the country wants change, “the candidates for the primaries have the task of building messages with values: advocating for a sufficient salary, stable and dignified work, legal certainty and stability. In the Venezuela of 2023, uncertainty reigns, nobody knows what could happen to their home, their work, their business, and this must be reversed with a political change in the presidential elections. We will do it by voting en masse and promoting alliances, citizen participation without organization does not exist”, highlighted Dr. Duque Corredor.
He added that the vote must be rescued as a fighting mechanism. “The participation of the National Electoral Council, in the internal electoral processes of the organizations with political purposes, is only of a technical nature and not of a management nature. This is contemplated in the constitution and in the Organic Law of Electoral Power and according to the same Constitution we have the obligation to recover its validity and the democratic state, through the exercise of the vote, which is the legitimate means of exercising popular sovereignty ” .
Duque Corredor highlighted that the proposal of Women and Citizenship and Civil Space to propose the signing of a pact of respect and non-aggression between the pre-candidates. “It is included in the primary regulations. We need a policy of height and with the greatest number of proposals that offer certainty and hope among Venezuelans, ”she said.
a key point
The economist and political leader Andrés Schloeter considered that unity is not a word. “It is a commitment that the opposition must assume in the face of the primaries. We must avoid repeating the mistakes of the 2021 elections when we were disengaged from the process, we did not encourage participation and we lost many mayors and governors, “he said.
And he added: “The hope of winning in 2024 depends on how the process of October 22 of this year is handled. That is why the primaries are a key point to generate an electoral solution to this political crisis. Participation will promote the changes that the country demands”.
The architect Aixa Armas, president of Women and Citizenship, pointed out: “For us, the candidate is the primary process and unity, which is why it is so important to organize forums throughout the country, with the intention that citizens are informed and appropriate this consensus because the primary one is the consensus”.
The forum was attended by political leaders from various parties such as the former councilor for the Sucre municipality of Miranda state, Rosiris Toro who highlighted the importance of this type of informative activity. “We want to redemocratize the country and citizens and politicians must meet and find common ground and encourage participation in the primaries,” he said.