Juan Guaidó, during a performance MIGUEL GUTIÉRREZ (EFE)
The Venezuelan opposition voted this Friday to abolish the so-called “interim government” led by Juan Guaidó. After almost four years, this framework, created by the anti-Chaviist forces in parallel with Nicolás Maduro’s executive, has been dismantled by the will of the majority of the opposition forces that make up the opposition National Assembly. With a total of 72 votes in favor, 29 against and eight abstentions, Primero Justicia, Acción Democrática and Un Nuevo Tiempo decided to turn the page. The aim is to give way to a new strategy that will facilitate a political transition and the holding of elections with guarantees.
The debate about the end of the so-called “interim presidency” intensified internal disputes. The accumulated tensions between some sectors of the opposition have provoked a bitter struggle that has fueled even more collective disenchantment, while the different criteria and crossing of signals on social networks have reached the academic sector and civil society. What happened in the days leading up to the vote is a case in point: while Guaidó tried to delay the vote, the forces of the so-called G-3 insisted on resolving this conflict before the end of the year.
In any case, the internal balance sheets were drawn up in a discussion four days ago about the reform of the so-called transitional statute. The procedure that heralded the end of Guaidó’s role had been adopted with 72 votes in favour, 23 against and 9 abstentions. “The interim government is not the raison d’être of the democratic struggle,” said Primero Justicia’s Alfonso Marquina, who argued in a press conference that the political time for this initiative had already expired. “It was a necessary tool back then. Today we are in a different reality. We will set up a commission to protect all of the nation’s assets abroad.”
Inferior voices compared to their former allies: Voluntad Popular, the Guaidós party founded by Leopoldo López, accompanied by some smaller formations like Causa Radical and the 16th of July Fraction, have been maneuvering for days to try to free public opinion from the inconveniences to convince the so-called “interim presidency” to dissolve.
In this regard, Juan Pablo Guanipa of Primero Justicia and Delsa Solórzano of Encuentro Ciudadano, concerned about the negative impact of the discussion, had proposed postponing the convening of the parliamentary session in order to seek an amicable solution. Guaidó accepted the proposal as good and decreed the postponement of parliamentary sessions. However, the parties of the so-called G3, which support the initiative, refused to postpone the debate, warning Guaidó that if he did not do so, they would convene him at his own expense to complete the termination of his functions.
After an avalanche of criticism in recent months, Guaidó-led “interim government” has received important statements of support in recent hours. The Constitutional Bloc, a civic platform that includes some of the country’s most prominent legal scholars, issued a statement warning of “the grave institutional, political, economic and social consequences” that the measure would entail.
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The Center for Politics and Government Studies at the Andrés Bello Catholic University also supported Guaidó’s continuity and called on opposition politicians to reconsider their initiative. “Although the transitional government has not achieved the proposed goals, its disappearance reduces the possibilities for negotiations in Mexico and weakens the primary election process. If the primary fails, the definition of a 2024 candidate would be driven by consensus, an option that will have less support from voters.
The statement of the Center of the Catholic University indicates that “the proposal promoted by the opposition parties seeks not only to abolish the figure of the responsible President (Article 233 of the Constitution), but that the governmental function falls entirely to the National Assembly, that is, it establish a parliamentary government that does not conform to our republican tradition and would distribute powers outside the bounds of the constitution.”
For the jurist Allan Brewer Carías: “If the National Assembly approves the reform and unconstitutionally takes over the functions of the interim government, this usurpation, apart from causing a monumental managerial mess with an allegedly parallel and unconstitutional collegial administration, has no bearing on the status of the president responsible and as such usurpation could take place without legal effect, particularly at international level.”
However, these approaches to defending Guaidó and Voluntad Popular have not changed the intention of the majority of opposition forces to put the “Guaidó era” behind them. On Thursday afternoon, there was another hypothesis that Guaidó would soon step down from office and prepare to continue his efforts as a presidential candidate for the opposition primaries.
In a video recording, the politician suggested to his colleagues that they name other actors, but not end the institution. “Unfortunately, at this point, the intent remains to abolish institutional support for what was the big rock in the Maduro dictatorship’s shoe, which was the interim presidency,” Guaidó said. “The parliamentary majority of Acción Democrática, Primero Justicia and Un Nuevo Tiempo has the opportunity to defend constitutional justice. But the powers of this body cannot be circumvented. We must not destroy this tool to fight for democracy that has cost us so much to create,” he said.
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