Elections: Legislative elections and perhaps a referendum in 2025 in Venezuela

Venezuela plans to organize several elections in 2025, including legislative ones and “possibly” a referendum on constitutional reform, in the wake of the contested presidential election of July 2024 which saw the proclamation of Nicolás Maduro’s victory for a third term. .

The National Assembly where the government has an absolute majority – the opposition having boycotted the 2020 legislative elections – called on all the country’s political parties to present a proposed calendar to the National Electoral Council (CNE), also considered pro- power.

“The National Electoral Council must organize and call three elections (…) this year,” declared the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez, one of the key figures in Venezuelan power.

“Freedom-killing” laws

This calendar must include legislative, municipal and regional elections but also “possibly (…) the constitutional reform proposed by President Nicolás Maduro”, the details of which have not yet been revealed, according to Jorge Rodriguez.

“Proposals will be made: should all elections be organized at the same time or separately, what are the parameters and legal requirements?” he added.

The government has already adopted in 2024 several laws described as “liberticidal” by the opposition and which provide for prison sentences of 30 years for “political” offenses, according to it.

Repression

Socialist President Nicolás Maduro, who was sworn in on Friday at the National Assembly, was proclaimed winner of the July presidential election with 52% of the votes by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which however did not publish the minutes polling stations as provided for by law, claiming to be the victim of computer hacking.

An explanation considered not very credible by many observers. The opposition, which published the minutes provided by its scrutineers, assures that its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia obtained more than 67% of the votes.

The repression of demonstrations after the announcement of Nicolás Maduro’s victory left 28 dead and around 200 injured, and more than 2,400 people were arrested.

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