In fresh setback for Venezuela opposition, governors sworn in

FAN Editor
Newly elected governors of the National Constituent Assembly are seen during the swearing in ceremony at the Palacio Federal Legislativo, in Caracas
Newly elected governors of the National Constituent Assembly are seen during the swearing in ceremony at the Palacio Federal Legislativo, in Caracas, Venezuela October 18, 2017. REUTERS/Marco Bello

October 23, 2017

CARACAS (Reuters) – In a major setback for Venezuela’s opposition, four of its five opposition governors broke with their coalition’s official position on Monday to swear themselves in before a pro-government legislative superbody, authorities said.

The Democratic Unity coalition went into the Oct. 15 gubernatorial polls as favorites for a big win due to voter anger at a brutal economic crisis in the OPEC member, but it ended up only taking just five of 23 states.

Initially alleging fraud at the election, the opposition later acknowledged abstentionism in its ranks played a big part in the defeat, which cast into question its ability to beat the ruling Socialist Party at next year’s presidential vote.

After the vote, the coalition said none of its winning candidates would “kneel” before the pro-President Nicolas Maduro Constituent Assembly body which it has refused to recognize since its establishment in a controversial election in July.

But the newly elected governors for Tachira, Merida, Nuevo Esparta and Anzoategui – all from the Democratic Action party, one of Venezuela’s biggest and oldest – swore themselves in before assembly directors as a prerequisite to taking office.

“This is good news for the country,” Constituent Assembly head Delcy Rodriguez said on state TV after the ceremony.

She chided the one opposition winning candidate, Juan Pablo Guanipa of Zulia state, for holding out.

“The laws of the Republic are to be fulfilled and respected, so these actions will have consequences,” she said. Maduro had previously warned there may be a new election in any state where the winning candidate does not swear loyalty to the assembly.

Guanipa, of the Justice First party which has taken a more militant line against Maduro than Democratic Action, said he would not legitimize the “fraudulent” Constituent Assembly.

“Zulia will never bow before the dictatorship,” he added in a series of tweets.

Critics see the creation of the Constituent Assembly, which has superseded all powers including the opposition-led congress, as the cementing of dictatorship in Venezuela.

But Maduro said it was the only way to bring peace back after four months of opposition protests this year that led to 125 deaths, thousands of arrests and injuries, and widespread damage to property and infrastructure.

(Reporting by Andrew Cawthorne and Andreina Aponte; Editing by Peter Cooney and Lisa Shumaker)

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