Venezuela’s supreme court gives Maduro pre-electoral boost
Venezuela’s supreme court of justice (TSJ) has issued two rulings in the last two weeks which are likely to have a significant influence on the legislative elections on 6 December. On 5 August the opposition coalition Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (MUD) expelled the traditional right-wing Comité de Organización Polٕítica Electoral Independiente (Copei) from its ranks after the TSJ imposed a new Copei leadership committee days earlier which the MUD leadership claimed would act like “a Trojan horse” for the “regime”. Then, on 7 August, the TSJ rejected a suit to force the central bank (BCV) to make inflation figures public. Since inflation began spiralling out of control (even by Venezuelan standards) last February, the BCV has stopped publishing figures which, given that wage increases are far from keeping pace, could have reduced support for the government led by President Nicolás Maduro as elections approach.
The MUD’s executive secretary, Jesús Torrealba, announced the expulsion of Copei from the opposition coalition after the TSJ suspended the legitimately elected Copei party leadership headed by Roberto Enríquez on 30 July. The TSJ named a new interim leadership committee under Pedro Urrieta after Copei members placed an internal dispute before the court. The TSJ ruled that the Enríquez leadership had put “personal interests above party interests” by unilaterally selecting 27 legislative candidates. It instructed the national electoral council (CNE) not to accept the nomination of any legislative candidates other than those selected by the new leadership committee.