Maduro Proclaimed President, No Mention of Recount
HAVANA TIMES — The National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela proclaimed Nicolas Maduro the new president on Monday afternoon, despite the opposition’s refusal to accept the results without a complete recount.
CNE president, Yibisay Lucena, handed Maduro the document that certifies him as the president-elect.
Maduro replaces the late Hugo Chavez who died on March 5. He is scheduled to be sworn in this coming Friday.
Lucena noted that 99.6% of the votes had been tabulated with 50.66% for Maduro (7,505,338 votes) and 49.07% for Henrique Capriles (7,270,403), adding that the tendency was irreversible.
Because of the closeness of the results Capriles camp had called on the CNE to hold off on proclaiming a winner until a recount could take place.
The future of Maduro’s government will be decided by one factor and one factor only, Venezuela’s economic performance.
With 100% of the vote now counted, it strikes me as implausible that a 273,000 vote lead could be over turned in a recount.
As tough as it is to be on the losing end of a close election, the Capriles forces should accept the result and start organizing for future elections.
Maduro has a very weak electoral mandate. I suspect his position will be further weakened going forward by internal factions who don’t think he is an adequate replacement for Chavez.
When Capriles won his position as governor, he had only about 45 thousand voters ahead of his opponent. In that case, there wasn’t any doubts and nobody complained.
A vote that close should trigger an automatic recount. In an election such as this, when the outcome is so hotly contested, it is in the country’s best interest for the process to be as transparent and clear as possible. If not, doubts will always persist.
I think Capriles is planning a coup. He knows he will have the US – and thus, the ‘public opinion’ of the media – with him.