Caracas Daily Journal (Jeremy Morgan): The National Electoral Council (CNE) has flinched at the first fence faced with a request that it should investigate whether President Hugo Chavez has infringed the rules in the campaign for the state and municipal elections scheduled for Nov. 23.
The request was made by CNE Director Vicente Diaz, who’s developed a habit of insisting that rules are complied with -- and in the process set himself aside from his four fellow directors on the board, including CNE President Tibisay Lucena.
Chavez is alleged to have bent the rules by endorsing PSUV candidates for state governor (Mario Silva in Carabobo and Giancarlo Di Martino in Zulia) while attending public functions in his capacity as president. His attacks on opposition candidates Manuel Rosales and Pablo Perez in Zulia are also under question.
Little has been said since Diaz made his request public, making it plain that he felt an inquiry was a matter of urgency given the proximity of the vote.
Diaz has insisted three times that his colleagues inquire into the president’s behavior. No dice so far: his request has been shunted into next week, and there's no certainty it'll be on the agenda then. Instead, the majority on the CNE board chose to look into whether state channel VTV violated the norms on campaign coverage, and whether the on-off-on again government ally, Patria Para Todos (PPT), bent the rules in Guarico state.
Guarico poses plenty of potential for embarrassing the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), and not least because the opposed sides in this dispute both hail from the pro-Chavez camp.
A complaint has been lodged against Lenny Manuitt, who's running for governor backed by PPT to succeed her incumbent father, who's been disowned by the PSUV. The complaint is that Manuitt, the daughter, used Chavez' image on poster campaigns without authorization.
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