by Paul Dobson
in Caracas

PRIMARY elections for right-wing alliance Democratic Unity Roundtable (Mud) candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections have been marked by widespread abstentionism, it has emerged.

Primaries were held this month in 33 of the 87 circuits (districts) which elect deputies to the National Assembly, with 109 candidates standing.

In the remaining 44 circuits, and for the 81-member party list, opposition candidates are to be chosen in closed-door negotiations between Mud’s many affiliates.

Participation was low despite the primaries being open to the general public, with between 570,000 and 640,000 votes cast — and in some districts members have challenged the imposition of candidates.

Mud’s primaries were held with the support of the National Electoral Council (CNE).

After repeatedly describing the CNE as “biased” and “untrustworthy” and calling “fraud” in the last three elections, many considered Mud’s decision to use CNE voting machines as surprising and even hypocritical.

The primaries were “the worst disaster in participation in Venezuela’s history,” according to the Socialist Caracas mayor Jorge Rodriguez, who pointed out that just 7.2 per cent of voters participated.

“People realised that these weren’t primaries really, that no candidates were being chosen, that all of the circuits had been handed out, and that they were forcing candidates to pay 150,000 Bolivars each (£15,250, or one year’s minimum salary).

“The people punished them by abstaining”

In the Caracas district of Baruta-Chaco-El Hatillo, rightwingers filed a legal challenge to force Mud to hold primaries.