Two leading Venezuelan opposition leaders are in talks with President Nicolas Maduro’s government about possible participation in the upcoming parliamentary elections, said Turkish Foreign Minister, who is involved in the negotiations.
The opposition parties had previously decided to boycott the elections.
The boycott came about because the opposition is convinced that the elections are not free. For example, the Supreme Court intervened with opposition parties, and the number of parliamentarians was arbitrarily expanded.
However, opposition leaders Henrique Capriles and Stalin Gonzalez have quietly begun to rally opposition candidates despite concerns that this will give legitimacy to the outcome, which may well benefit the ruling Socialist Party.
Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, both a Venezuelan political and economically, said in a press conference that Capriles and Gonzalez insist that foreign observers attend the elections.
Maduro would have agreed to that. “We see that the government and the opposition are close to a deal, and we are happy with that,” said Çavuşoğlu.
Maduro has previously sidetracked Venezuela’s elected parliament because he does not have a majority there. He has created ‘a parliament’ of his own supporters. Maduro was re-elected as president in May 2018 in controversial elections boycotted by the opposition.
Despite the shortages, including necessities, and the flight of millions of Venezuelans abroad, Maduro is still in the saddle.