Venezuelan Negotiation Table Appoints New Electoral Commission

Socialist lawmaker Francisco Torrealba confirmed Wednesday that the electoral commission of the negotiation table shared with the opposition sectors appointed a sub-commission in charge of appointing a committee of candidacies for a new National Electoral Council.

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"The sub-commission was created and will include the participation of the lawmakers Angel Medina from opposition parties Primero de Justicia, and Luis Moreno for Accion Democratica, while Julio Chavez and William Gil, will represent the United Socialist Party of Venezuela," he said. 

The subcommissioners will draw a chronogram for the appointment of new members of the Electoral Council.

Once the National Assembly ends its period of contempt and new electoral deputies are elected, the legislative commissions will likely be operational again by the third trimester of 2020, the lawmaker explained.

"Elections are not optional, they are happening, because the Constitution says so, and the current mandate of lawmakers is coming to an end next year, so there must be a new National Assembly in 2021," he said.

A total of 21 commissioners will be appointed: 11 lawmakers from the opposition and from the government, as well as 10 members of the civil society.

This is part the deal reached with opposition parties, which in the first instance resulted in the return of the parliamentary bloc of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and the Great Patriotic Pole (GPP)  to the country's National Assembly in September. 

Vice President Delcy Rodriguez recalled that the National Dialogue Roundtable agreed on eight working groups, which will address the following topics: 1. Electoral power and electoral guarantees; 2. Truth commission; 3. Sovereignty and territorial integrity; 4. National Economy; 5. Institutional and political balance; 6. Social rights; 7. Political parties; 8. Social movements.