(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Sunday 23. November was the election of a new national assembly in Venezuela, as well as new regional governments in each state and municipality. For the first time, the election took place through a machine-based system that counted the votes.
The results? The ruling party won in 17 by the states and in 263 municipalities and city councils, while five state governments and 48 local governments went to the opposition. The "opposition" is a name of President Hugo Chávez Frías and the government has put on all persons and organizations that do not agree with the political ideals that their socialist party, PSUV, stands for.
Although it may sound difficult for a government to win such an overwhelming victory in a nationwide election, the victory is due to a positive and desired development after a long time of hard work – at least that is what the high gentlemen in the government think. For the rest of us, the election result has come about through the machine-based counting system, which in several different ways can be in danger of being manipulated.
But in some places, for example in the state of Miranda, it was not possible to tilt the result in favor of the ruling party. The majority of the citizens of the state were far too dissatisfied with them.
Election Day took place in most places as usual, in more or less organized forms. In exactly this state, however, the opportunity had been extended to extend the opening hours of the polling stations. That is why many votes came to the opposition from people who had stood in line for a long time to vote.
This information became a blow to the bow of government representatives who constantly tell us that we live in a completely free and democratic society. The fact that society is free and democratic, I agree almost completely. At the same time, we must not ignore the fact that the president has had clear intentions and performed many actions that indicate that he wants all power in himself.
But thanks to the political conscience and awareness of many citizens, which has grown among many Venezuelans of all ages in recent years, this election has shown us a positive development – in that the party in government has refused to rule in an important state assembly. Thus, an important obstacle is overcome.
For all of us who live in Venezuela, regardless of political affiliation or social status, the most important thing in this election has been to confirm and / or show that we live in some form of democracy. But under this facade that the government is nurturing under, there is every reason to doubt the conditions for this democracy in which we live. At the moment, it is the team that has the ball that mainly gets to enjoy the rights that democracy entails.
The right to vote, freedom of expression and the right to exchange views are something we others have to benefit from in Venezuela. We are at the mercy of the people that a majority should have chosen to sit in power.
Every statement and every point of view of a citizen should be judged as positive or negative by the government, and the government always has the last word. This is just one of the many flaws of a largely corrupt governance, full of shortcomings and driven by the interests of individuals.
Therefore, it is difficult to get out of it unscathed if one tries to take a contradictory position on issues that are important to them.
Translated from Spanish by Ingrid Sande Larsen
Katiuska Natera is a human rights activist, previously worked at Amnesty International and runs a private company in Venezuela's capital Caracas.
