Pablo Pérez's Turn
The outbreak of arbitrary elections disqualifications continues, as the Venezuelan government goes all in on that old democratic dictum: if you can’t beat ’em, ban ’em.
Now it’s former Zulia State governor Pablo Pérez, disqualified from office for TEN YEARS on some flimsy excuse. It’s the third high-profile disqualification this week.
It’s enough to give you déjà poo, the uncanny feeling you’ve heard this shit before:
Parliamentary elections […] will be grossly unfair because of arbitrary disqualifications and other restrictions,Human Rights Watch said today. The voting for […] parliamentary seats follows the disqualification of hundreds of candidates based on vague and ill-defined criteria, and opposition leaders are either barred from participating, serving unjust prison sentences, or refusing to participate in what they consider sham elections.
[…]
“…the authorities have stacked the deck by disqualifying candidates and arbitrarily and jailing key members of the reform movement,” said Joe Stork, deputy […] director at Human Rights Watch.“There is no transparency surrounding the vetting and selection of candidates.”
Go on…click through.
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