Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, campaigning for a third term, on Friday accused his main rival in the July 28 election of fomenting a “coup d’état” after refusing to sign an agreement to respect the electoral results proposed by the Electoral Commission (CNE) to the orders of those in power.
“Yesterday (Thursday) we signed an agreement for peace in Venezuela, for respect for the results of the elections, for respect for the referee. Out of ten candidates, eight have signed,” Mr. Maduro told his supporters gathered in front of a stage in Maturin (east).
“Why do you think they did not sign the agreement to respect the CNE and the results? Because they intend to cry fraud, because they intend to do […] a coup d’état,” he said.
The candidate of the Unitary Platform, the opposition coalition whose leader Maria Corina Machado, favorite in the polls, was declared ineligible, indicated Thursday that he did not want to initial a document “unilaterally imposed” by the CNE.
Edmundo Gonzalez recalled in a press release that the recognition of the results was already part of the agreement signed in October between the government and the opposition in Barbados, mediated by Norway.
The other candidate who has not signed is Enrique Marquez, former director of the CNE and now an independent candidate, considered as a “backup” option in the event that Mr. Gonzalez is in turn excluded from the presidential race. marked by the arrests of 38 militant activists, according to the opposition.
The other candidates in the running who signed the agreement proposed by the CNE are designated by the Unitary Platform as “collaborators” of Maduro, supposed to dilute the votes of the opposition.
The election campaign officially begins on July 4, but the various competing parties are holding political rallies across the country.
