This is no time for lamentations

ByVenEconomy:

In a dictatorship, the dictator gives the order and the way opens up for everything that is unconstitutional, illegal, arbitrary or in violation of civil, political, and citizen rights. Proof of this permissiveness in allowing the legal and democratic order to be contravened is to be found in Venezuela's election scenario, where the regime uses cunning arguments, sets traps, and takes unfair advantage.

One of the latest traps has to do with the registration of candidates for the election of 165 deputies to the National Assembly on September 26 this year.

The National Electoral Council has allowed barely five days for registering candidates, from June 1 to June 5. That would not be a problem, if this short registration period were not accompanied by an elaborate scheme to torpedo the registration process. It turns out that the General Comptroller's Office is, once again, moving ahead with the "timely" political barring of candidates. It so happens that this mostly affects candidates on the opposition side, although it has also been used to give some members of Chavismo their comeuppance for some political misdemeanor or other.

Among those barred are Police Captains Forero, Simonovis, and Vivas and former Governor Manuel Rosales. The President has expressed himself in pejorative terms about all these candidates, and the political retaliation behind this decision is evident, given that each of them is a stone in the revolutionary process's shoe. Some dissidents from among Chavismo's ranks have also been barred -former Deputy Wilmer Aguaje, former Mayors Ernesto Paraqueima and Numa Rojas, and former Governor Ramon Martinez -- all clear cases of political disqualification being used as a political weapon. But all of that was fairly predictable. What was not expected were the mass disqualifications that are being meted out at the discretion of the Chavez administration.

This perverse use of the law to remove emblematic contenders with strong grassroots support from the game is nothing new for Chavez' Comptroller General's Office. It will be remembered that Comptroller Clodosbaldo Russian used the same stratagem to prevent Enrique Mendoza, Leopoldo Lopez, and others from standing at the 2008 regional elections.

This time the regime is seeking to sabotage and weaken the unity of the opposition that has taken so much hard work to build via consensus and with the participation of the people, reconciling a wide range of political viewpoints and party and personal interests.

It is common knowledge that the electoral route against a contender who does as he pleases with the law is a veritable minefield. For example, it would come as no surprise if the regime were to play the card it has tucked up the Supreme Tribunal of Justice's sleeve to invalidate candidates who have not been chosen by means of elections or even if it were to attempt to postpone the parliamentary elections.

A tough fight lies ahead, and to do battle, the opposition needs to manage the situation by implementing firm, sound strategies, working as a team, taking account of all the factors, and rowing all in the same direction, including those who have been ignominiously removed from the game. This is no time for lamentations.