Venezuelan opposition
leaders said the country is heading toward Cuban-style elections, with no real
challengers to the ruling party, thanks to burdensome new rules governing how
parties renew their registration.The accusation comes as the opposition stands
to make major gains in upcoming regional elections, with Venezuela’s economy
imploding and President Nicolas Maduro’s popularity plunging. The new rules,
announced recently, set up a challenging series of hoops for parties to jump
through in order to participate in this year’s vote, which has not yet been
scheduled. Maduro’s United Socialist Party is exempt, as is the main opposition
coalition, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), since both won more than 1%
of the vote in the past two elections. But the catch, for the MUD, is that it
is not in fact a single party: It is a coalition of some 30 parties, each of
which will have to go through the renewal process.More…
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