O The request was filed by Enrique Márquez, former vice president of the National Electoral Council (CNE) and one of the ten candidates who participated in the elections, arguing that the president of the Electoral Room – one of the six departments of the STJ – maintains ties with the President and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV, in government).
“We have presented a request for the dismissal of the president of the STJ Electoral Chamber due to the clear political ties she has maintained and maintains with the United Socialist Party of Venezuela and with the President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro, the main complainant in this case,” Enrique Márquez told journalists as he left the STJ.
Márquez explained that they attached to the request “all the evidence” they have “to effectively demonstrate that the president of the Electoral Chamber did not hide her political connections, neither in the past nor in the present”.
“It is very difficult for a judge to do justice if she is not impartial and we consider that the president of the Electoral Chamber has sufficient political ties and lacks impartiality,” he said.
On the other hand, he explained, seven complaints were included in the request, including that the opposition has not had access to the work being carried out by the STJ, despite being part of the case.
He also said that they have already presented three documents that were registered by the STJ, but for which they have not received proof, and that the opposition has been prevented from presenting witnesses in the ongoing investigation, despite the legislation guaranteeing this possibility.
Another complaint has to do with the lack of knowledge of the ongoing process, since the electoral contentious appeal presented by Maduro “does not resemble in any way what is being carried out”.
“We can say that the Chamber invented a procedure that we do not know (…) we do not know what will happen now, and we denounce the irresponsibility, lack of suitability and transparency in which the process has been carried out”, he explained.
Enrique Márquez questioned whether the CNE, the STJ and the Venezuelan Government have nothing to hide and why they do not allow parties and candidates to observe and witness what is happening with the investigation.
“What we saw [através da televisão estatal] “They were some gentlemen that nobody knows, wearing masks, almost balaclavas, that nobody knows what they are really doing, what procedures they carry out, what documents they saw, what evidence they inspected. We know absolutely nothing, so this does a disservice to democracy, to transparency, to the reliability of both the CNE and the STJ”, he continued.
On July 31, Nicolás Maduro asked the STJ to certify the results of the July 28 presidential elections, contested by the opposition and not recognized by the international community.
“May the Electoral Chamber meet to resolve this attack on the electoral process and clarify everything that needs to be clarified,” he requested.
Maduro was speaking to journalists in Caracas, as he left the STJ, after presenting the request in response to allegations of fraud made by the opposition.
Without disclosing the content of the request, Maduro stated that the Government and the PSUV are ready to release all the electoral records and accused the internal opposition, with the help of opponents exiled abroad, of attempting “a coup d’état against the Government, using the electoral process”.
Maduro also asked that the election results be certified “with an opinion from experts of the highest technical level” and explained that he is willing to be summoned, questioned, investigated and brought to justice.
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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2618443/oposicao-na-venezuela-pede-dispensa-de-juiza-que-investiga-resultados
