Venezuela's presidential candidates begin to run for office
The Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) started this Thursday the process for the nomination of candidates for the presidential elections to be held on July 28. teleSUR
Transcript
00:00 And on Friday is taking place in Venezuela the second day of registration of candidates
00:06 for the presidential elections to be held on July 28th.
00:10 On Thursday, the registration period for the candidates of the parties that will participate
00:16 in those elections began throughout Venezuela.
00:20 To know more about this stage of registration of the candidates prior to the electoral appointment
00:28 and which is also constitutionally necessary, we have in Caracas our correspondent Gladys
00:34 Quezada.
00:35 Hi Gladys.
00:36 Hello Irma, thanks for the contact and thanks for this moment with you and also with from
00:45 the South and all of audience.
00:48 So today, Thursday or Friday, I beg your pardon, is the second day of the registration as you
00:53 were saying.
00:55 And as we were reporting yesterday, the parties of the opposition and political forces that
01:01 are contrary or not aligned to the government started their nomination and started also
01:07 their registration process.
01:09 Let's recall that all the parties in the country, all the opposition parties and all the political
01:14 forces that are contrary or aligned with the government can do the process.
01:20 As long as they are legally allowed to do so and they comply with all the requisites
01:27 contemplated and observed in the constitution and also in the electoral laws of the country.
01:33 First of all was the nomination phase of this process that took place prior to this one
01:40 because after the National Electoral Council set the day for the general elections on July
01:46 28th, the process of nomination starts.
01:49 Each one of the parties has the right and the duty to choose a candidate.
01:54 Afterwards comes this phase that we are at right now is the nomination or the registration
02:00 of the nominees.
02:01 Everyone, every single party, every single political force are scheduled to come here
02:09 in these five days until March 25th so they can register legally their nominee and they
02:17 become, they turn into a candidate for the presidential elections.
02:22 Yesterday we had the nominations and we had the registration of Arepa Digital, we had
02:27 the registration of Acción Democrática, Democratic Action, Popular Will, Voluntad
02:32 Popular.
02:33 We also had other nominations and other parties aligned with the government as Enamorada de
02:40 Venezuela, as also Podemos and El Partido Comunista de Venezuela, the Communist Party
02:46 of Venezuela.
02:47 All of them, part of the great patriotic poll came here not only to ratify their support
02:53 to Nicolás Maduro Moros as the next candidate for the Socialist United Party of Venezuela
02:58 but also to endorse their nomination and also to register him as the candidate for their
03:05 political forces.
03:07 Those were the nominations and the registrations of yesterday but today, on Friday, it is expected
03:13 that other political forces of opposition come here and register their candidates.
03:18 It's the case of Juan Carlos Alvarado who is the leader of COPEI, one of the oldest
03:25 political forces here in the country, as the party was founded in 1946 and it was sharing
03:33 the right forces with Acción Democrática, Democratic Action.
03:38 Those are the main right-led parties in the nation and today is the turn for the nomination
03:45 and registration of the candidate of COPEI, which is a Christian social democratic party
03:50 and also is center-right guided.
03:53 Let's have that into account and also let's know once again that they have a registration
04:00 digitally and afterwards they can come in here to ingress, submit their legal documents
04:08 to inscribe the candidate as one of the ones or the names that are going to be in the ballot
04:16 the July 28th elections.
04:18 Also today, it is expected that Antonio E. Carri also comes to ratify his nomination
04:26 and to register himself as the candidate of his party, which is the party LAPIS or LAPIS
04:34 Association, which is translating as Pencil Association and it is also one of the right-guided
04:41 or center-right guided parties in the country.
04:44 I have to stress, those are opposition parties, but they have the same rights, the same ways,
04:50 the same access to the process of the National Electoral Council as long as they have legal
04:57 rights, legal basis and also as long as they comply with the constitution and everything
05:03 that is established by the laws of the country.
05:06 Other aspirants that had promised violence, that had promised extortion, that have promised
05:13 protests and terrorism, they are not allowed because they do not comply with the laws of
05:20 the country.
05:21 They are just forbidden, they have been banned because they do not comply with the constitution
05:28 and the laws of the country.
05:30 But other forces can come in here and submit their documents and also be legally recognized
05:36 as a candidate for the presidential elections.
05:39 That's the information, that is what is going to happen today.
05:43 We are here receiving all the candidates, also we are here receiving all the data, all
05:48 the information and the details and we are going to cover every single detail of today's
05:54 registration process.
05:56 This process will last until March 25th and afterwards if the National Electoral Council
06:02 declines or accepts any of the nominees, they can appeal the decision.
06:08 In any case that they are rejected, they have the legal mechanisms to appeal the decision
06:14 and to claim another result.
06:16 But they have to go into a judicial process.
06:19 That's the ways, that's what is established and those are the ambience and the atmosphere
06:24 here in Caracas.
06:26 Otherwise in politics people is in calm.
06:30 Even though the electoral ambience is present, people is just living the holy week.
06:36 They are doing their dishes, they are doing whatever they want, they are having their
06:41 holidays.
06:42 So the nation and the city Caracas is in calm, is in full joy because of the holy week and
06:50 they are gearing up, they are heating up into the atmosphere of the elections.
06:55 And that's the information.
06:56 Irma, back to you.
06:59 Thank you Gladys.
07:01 Thank you very much for this summary.