VENEZUELA-POLITICS/MACHADO Venezuela opposition leader Machado barred from registering opposition party candidacy for deputy seat

Record ID: 145261

  • Title: VENEZUELA-POLITICS/MACHADO Venezuela opposition leader Machado barred from registering opposition party candidacy for deputy seat
  • Date: 3rd August 2015
  • Summary: LOS TEQUES, VENEZUELA (AUGUST 3, 2015) (REUTERS) OPPOSITION POLITICIAN MARIA CORINA MACHADO LEAVING REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS OF THE NATIONAL ELECTORAL COUNCIL WOMAN CHANTING SUPPORT FOR MACHADO MACHADO GREETING SUPPORTERS MACHADO SUPPORTERS CARRYING FLAGS AND POSTERS IN HER FAVOUR MACHADO GIVING SPEECH (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MARIA CORINA MACHADO, OPPOSITION LEADER, SAYING: "Th
  • Embargoed: 18th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA8QJLTICNZSMEU1RZMFV9DM09I
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Monday (August 3) electoral authorities from Miranda state had prevented her nomination as a candidate for the MUD opposition coalition party ahead of December 6 parliamentary election.
    Machado tried to register her candidacy at the headquarters of the National Electoral Council (CNE) in Los Teques as a candidate for the central Miranda state Circuit 2, which includes El Hatillo, Baruta, Sucre and Baruta.
    "They don't want to let me make a bid to be a National Assembly deputy and you know who, you know very well who asked for my head and why. You know why they fear me and why they want to keep me quiet," Machado told her supporters.
    In mid-July, Machado said she had been barred from public office for a year, a move that could prevent her from becoming a congresswoman if she were to win a seat in December's parliamentary election.
    The Los Teques CNE barred her nomination, saying she failed to produce a required form issued by the judicial system, according to local media.
    The comptroller's office has in the past disqualified candidates from holding public office for reasons that the opposition says are excuses to sideline political opponents.
    Polls predict Venezuela's struggling socialist government will lose the December 6 parliamentary election amid a scarring recession, spiralling inflation and shortages of basic goods including medicines and corn flour.
    Machado was stripped of her seat in the National Assembly last year on charges she violated the constitution by accepting an invitation from Panama to speak against Maduro at a meeting of the Organization of American States.
    Machado on Monday said Isabel Pereira, a sociologist and director of the Centre for Dissemination of Economic Knowledge for Freedom (Cedice), would represent her in the National Assembly, local media reported.
    Government supporters criticize Machado for her support of a botched two-day 2002 coup against the late Hugo Chavez, in which they say she signed a decree that dissolved state institutions.
    Venezuela's opposition admires her for taking a tough stance against the government.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register