A former Venezuelan opposition MP has proposed creating a register so that migrants can participate in the primary elections

The Venezuelan opponent Carlos Ocariz asked this Sunday for a register so that migrants can participate in the primary elections in which a candidate will be elected to face the Chavista regime in the presidential elections of 2024.

“I want to ratify my proposal to create a register of Venezuelans abroad (…) There are more than five million compatriots who have the sacred right to vote, This voice needs to be heard.”said the former mayor, quoted in a press release.

Ocariz asserted that there are international organizations that they can register “safely and quickly”.

“The UN and even the OAS itself (Organization of American States) can participate in the development of a secure registry. The Primaries Commission can propose it because it is vital that our people abroad can vote, we must do the impossible, they have the constitutional right to do so,” he insisted.

Chairman of the National Primary Commission, Jesus Maria Casalhe told the agency EFE that the participation of Venezuelans abroad in these elections is a priority, although he acknowledged the difficulty of organizing registration days and updating data abroad, in coordination with the National Council election (CNE).

Casal stressed that the commission he leads is “constantly” working on the definition and characteristics of a register of Venezuelans living abroad, so that they can participate in the primaries.

He argued that in Venezuela, the electoral power had been officially invited to organize special days for the registration and updating of data, “But to achieve something like that overseas or right now, in the short term, is a difficult thing.”

In the last cut of the electoral register, corresponding to September 30, 2022, in Venezuela there are 21,094,629 adult citizens registered to vote, of which only 107,878 are registered in the diplomatic representations of the Caribbean nation abroad.

The Inter-Agency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela (R4V), a mechanism co-led by the United Nations Refugee Agency (Acnur) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), reported in February , that 7.1 million Venezuelans have left their country of origin in recent years.

The National Electoral Council of Venezuela will install, next Wednesday, the technical commission that it has agreed to create with the United Platform, to determine the extent of its possible assistance during the opposition primaries of October 22, during of which the candidate faces chavismo in the 2024 presidential elections, the state entity reported this Friday.

“Next Wednesday, March 8, the technical commission which will determine the extent of the possible assistance of the CNE to the primary election raised by the National Primary Commission (CNP),” the organization said on its Twitter account.

The CNE recalled that the creation of the technical group had been approved last February, in response to a request made by the CNP, the body in charge of the opposition elections, in which several requests had been made, including the constitution of this team.

He indicated that members of the CNP are summoned to the installation on March 8, as well as the rectors of the CNE Roberto Picon, Carlos Quintero and Leonel Paricawhich will be coordinated by the President of the Electoral Power, Pedro Calzadilla.

With information from EFE

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