By TalCual

The Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) opposition coalition will hold primary elections across 19 states on Sunday to choose its candidates for governor. In this way, the MUD is fulfilling its promise to consult the people of Venezuela to decide through the power of vote who would be their candidates for the regional elections to be held in October of this year.

This is very different from what happened to the maduro-cabellismo regime, whose candidates were chosen by its own political leaders and without taking into consideration what the militants of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) may think about them. The finger of Nicolás Maduro or that of Diosdado Cabello already made the decision – and it’s their way or the highway. Even those from the chavista sector who wanted to enter the electoral arena were taken out of the game by the four PSUV members making up the board of directors of the National Electoral Council (CNE).

The opposition primaries certainly have their risks. The first of them is a low voter turnout rate. This is some data that the Government will take into account, since it may indicate the willingness of the majority of Venezuelans to vote. A high turnout rate will definitely be a very bad sign for the country’s dictatorship.

Irregularities during the election process which create doubts about the results and which may become an excuse for not recognizing them pose another risk. Let us hope that the elections are held under normal conditions and that those who participate do so in an honest way.

These primaries should serve to rebuild the unity of the parties making up the MUD. Everybody seems to have understood that without unity there is nothing to be done. The Government is clear about that, too, and that’s why it is trying to generate mistrust, in a variety of ways, among the opposition to divide it. Some things that certainly don’t foster the much-needed unity of the MUD have been said recently.

Let us hope that the wounds inflicted are not too deep.

This step of the primaries is the first on a very long road. And there will be more outrages, disqualifications, and provocations coming from the Government’s side through its electoral arm. The Opposition must keep cool heads. The wise decision to participate in these elections is going to make clear, once more, whose side the majority of Venezuelans are on. This electoral process is going to help corroborate the fraudulent election of a National Constituent Assembly on July 30 of this year. That being said, voting in these primaries is definitely the way to go.