Caracas Daily Journal (Jeremy Morgan): Comptroller General Clodosbaldo Russian not entirely surprisingly said opposition Zulia state Governor Manuel Rosales could be banned from standing for mayor of Maracaibo if he had used public funds to buy property for himself.
Russian has banned 272 people from standing as candidates in next month's regional elections, and has stated he'd add more people to his list if he thought fit. Now, he's implied that Rosales – who can't run for a third consecutive term as governor – could be kicked out of the mayoral race in Maracaibo barely three weeks before the vote.
Zulia has come to be seen as a stronghold of opposition sentiment in the west of the country. The PSUV has made wresting control away from Rosales' party, Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT), almost an act of faith in the election campaign. However, signs are the PSUV has barely dented the opposition's strength in the state, and, if anything, may have seen its own position weaken. In contrast, Rosales' appeal appears to be holding.
An opinion poll by IVAD earlier this week put him well ahead in the contest for mayor, with 66.5 percent, a survey sample against 24 percent for Henry Ramírez, the candidate for the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).
The same survey showed that Pablo Perez of the UNT, the opposition unity candidate to succeed Rosales as governor, would beat PSUC contender Giancarlo Di Martino by 50.7 percent to 25.5 percent if the vote were held now. Di Martino is mayor of Maracaibo.
Russian's critics saw his remarks about Rosales perhaps being declared an inhabilitado disallowed from running for office as a tacit admission the governor was poised to inflict a stunning defeat on the government. Furthermore, the implied threat did little to bolster belief in Russián's repeated claims that he's only a conscientious public servant doing his job. Critics say the law stipulates that only people who've been convicted in court can be banned from standing for elected office.
People who have already been banned insist this doesn't actually apply to them. Russian's retort has been that they either face or are subject to "administrative procedures." Critics point out that this isn't the same as a court verdict and sentence, and accuse Russian of acting as judge and jury.
The National Assembly (AN) decided that its comptroller committee should call in Rosales to give testimony about a recording in which he supposedly talked about getting money to candidates. AN First Vice President Saul Ortega called on the National Electoral Council (CNE) to investigate UNT campaign finances. All this followed a formal denunciation on Tuesday by Di Martino at the State Prosecutors Office calling for pre-trial proceedings against Rosales in connection with his acquisition of properties.
On Thursday, Julio Montoya of UNT returned the compliment by formally denouncing alleged "administrative irregularities" during Di Martino's term as mayor. We've been bringing corruption cases against Di Martino for more than four years," Montoya said.
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