Opposition moves forward ... nominations for eight governors agreed, elsewhere still to be settled

Caracas Daily Journal (Jeremy Morgan): More than five months after eight mainstream opposition parties signing an accord to pick single unity candidates for November's regional elections, they've made progress in eight states but still have much do before the deadline for electoral registration in mid-August.

The impetus for making decisions is said to have come from Un Nuevo Tiempo, the party built around opposition Zulia State Governor Manuel Rosales. UNT party President Omar Barbozo has said the opposition will have its full list ready by July 15.

Among the single nominations already agreed, former Carabobo state governor Henrique Salas Feo will run for Proyecto Venezuela, a local party founded by his father. Other reportedly agreed candidates are independent Roberto Smith for state governor in Vargas, Enrique Catalan of UNT in Trujillo, and Eduardo Morales Gil of the erstwhile pro-government but now opposition social democratic party, Podemos, in Sucre.

Accion Democratica (AD) is said to have secured its candidates in Cojedes and Monagas states, while its old Social Christian rivals at Copei will run Victor Cedeno for governor of Delta Amacuro. Nueva Esparta is also said to have been settled. But at state level, that's just about as far as it gets. Comptroller General Clodosbaldo Russian's ban on 386 potential candidates running for office has inevitably complicated matters.

The opposition's still struggling between sticking with barred nominees, or standing them down to pick someone else -- to which the answer is they might get banned, too. William Mendez of Primero Justicia hopes to run for governor in Tachira state but he's banned. He faces competition from Copei Secretary General Cesar Perez, who's said to have problems in his own back yard.

In Miranda state, former governor Enrique Mendoza of Copei wants his old job back but he's banned, too. Baruta Mayor Henrique Capriles Radonski of Primero Justicia is pushing himself as the opposition's alternative.

Similarly, at municipal level, time was when Chacao Municipal Mayor Leopoldo Lopez looked a shoe-in to run for Metropolitan Mayor. But he's on Russian's list, and three contenders who aren't say they've got a case: Antonio Ledezma (who's been city chief before) of Alianza Bravo Pueblo, backed by AD; Ismael Garcia of Podemos; and independent Augusto Uribe.

In other contests for a crack at governor, UNT is head-to-head with Copei in Zulia and Falcon, AD in Barinas (President Hugo Chavez' home state), and Podemos in Aragua. In Apure state, it looks like the old days with AD and Copei at each other for nomination for governor; MAS, which gave way to Gerardo Blyde in the race for mayor of Baruta, is up against independents for governor in Guarico and Portuguesa states.