Opposition under pressure ... still to decide in 14 states, 250 municipalities

Caracas Daily Journal (Jeremy Morgan): The opposition is under pressure to speed up the process of picking single unity candidates for next November's regional elections and hit its self-set deadline for full agreement at the middle of this month. So far, the opposition has settled on unity candidates to run for governor in eight states, and a further 60 contenders for municipal mayor. This leaves candidates for governor undecided in 14 states.

Accord remains elusive in over 250 municipalities, not to mention who gets to run for Metropolitan Mayor in Caracas. The pace has largely been set by Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT) and Primero Justicia, both of whom have secured candidate nominations in the process. But Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) and Alianza Bravo Pueblo (ABP) now want a much greater sense of urgency injected into the process. However, at the same time, MAS and ABP insisted that candidates shouldn't be imposed from Caracas, and all the more so at the local level. Given the shortening deadline, reconciling these two aims won't be easy.

ABP president Antonio Ledezma warned that time was running out in the quest for a united front to present to the voters. People, he said, were "watching the clock and looking at the calendar, and up until now unity hasn't been seen except in a few places." Ledezma's point was that the opposition was still sending a confused message to the electorate instead of creating the impression that it had at last settled its differences in the common cause.

In contrast to the call for action from MAS and ABP, the two old warhorses of Venezuelan politics - Accion Democratica (AD) and the Social Christians of Copei – seemed willing to let things take their own time. AD party president Víctor Bolivar conceded it was possible there could be delays in naming all the candidates but insisted this wasn't a cause for alarm. "We'll have opportune candidates, this is going to happen," he said.

Copei Deputy Secretary-General Alejandro Vivas admitted there were problems, but argued that this was part and parcel of a process based on "conversation rather than imposition" – an allusion to claims that President Hugo Chavez is hand-picking candidates in key constituencies while paying lip service to grass roots democracy.

Primero Justicia Secretary-General Carlos Ocariz denied his party was causing delays, pleading that the selection process was a two-way street. That lent weight to the belief that selection is based on not only opinion polls but also back-room deals in some cases.

Hector Catalan of Proyecto Venezuela, who'd hoped to run for re-election as mayor of El Hatillo, southeast Caracas, said he was stepping aside, after looking at polls. This paved the way for Delsa Solorzano, legal adviser at Primero Justicia.