{"id":54286,"date":"2017-12-11T06:44:37","date_gmt":"2017-12-11T06:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=54286"},"modified":"2017-12-11T06:44:37","modified_gmt":"2017-12-11T06:44:37","slug":"venezuela-opposition-banned-from-running-in-2018-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/venezuela-opposition-banned-from-running-in-2018-election.html","title":{"rendered":"Venezuela opposition banned from running in 2018 election"},"content":{"rendered":"

Venezuela opposition banned from running in 2018 election<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Venezuela’s President, Nicolas Maduro, says the country’s main opposition parties are banned from taking part in next year’s presidential election.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said only parties which took part in Sunday’s mayoral polls would be able to contest the presidency.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leaders from the Justice First, Popular Will and Democratic Action parties boycotted the vote and said the electoral system is biased.<\/span><\/p>\n

President Maduro insists the Venezuelan system is entirely trustworthy.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a speech on Sunday, he said the opposition parties had “disappeared from the political map”.<\/span><\/p>\n

“A party that has not participated today and has called for the boycott of the elections can’t participate anymore”, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

In October, the three main opposition parties announced they would be boycotting Sunday’s vote to elect mayors in more than 300 towns and cities.<\/span>
\nThey said the vote served what they called President Maduro’s dictatorship.<\/span><\/p>\n

President Maduro’s governing Socialist Party is expected to win the largest number of votes in the mayoral elections, despite a worsening economic crisis characterised by shortages of basic goods and soaring inflation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maduro divides and conquers<\/span><\/p>\n

Katy Watson, BBC Latin America correspondent – Barquisimeto, Venezuela<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr Maduro’s pronouncement is designed to provoke the opposition. Especially since he justified the move saying it was a condition set out by the National Constituent Assembly – a body that the opposition refuses to recognise because they say it’s undemocratic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr Maduro has lost popularity because of the worsening economic crisis. In the face of criticism, his strategy has been one of ‘divide and conquer’ – find ways of weakening the opposition to make them less of a threat.<\/span><\/p>\n

And he’s succeeded – he’s imprisoned some of the most popular opposition leaders like Leopoldo Lopez. He’s prevented others like Henrique Capriles from running for office. And now this threat – banning the most influential parties from taking part in future elections. The opposition is in crisis and Mr Maduro is gloating.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr Maduro said he was following the criteria set by the National Constituent Assembly in banning opposition parties from contesting next year’s election.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the assembly, which came into force in August and has the ability to rewrite the constitution, is dominated by government loyalists.<\/span><\/p>\n

Opposition parties see it as a way for the president to cling to power.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-latin-america-42304594<\/span><\/p>\n

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