Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and seven other candidates running in July’s elections signed an agreement on Thursday to respect the election results, but the country’s main opposition party abstained, saying the government had already violated the existing agreement.
The nine-point agreement was presented by Venezuela’s top electoral body, the National Electoral Council (CNE), which critics say is an extension of the ruling party.
Lead opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez abstained from signing the petition, as did Enrique Marquez.
In a statement on Thursday, Gonzalez said the opposition was adhering to the terms of the election as set out in an agreement signed between the government and opposition parties in Barbados last year.
“This agreement was broken by one of the parties, who withdrew the invitation to international observers from the European Union and intensified the persecution of leaders and supporters of our movement,” Gonzalez said in a statement.
After demanding Gonzalez sign the petition, CNE president Elvis Amoroso said, with the official television station broadcasting the vacant seat, that he had “not responded to the call of his country.”
Gonzalez, a 74-year-old former diplomat who is leading the opinion polls, told reporters early Thursday that he had not received a subpoena from the CNE.
On May 28, Amoroso withdrew his invitation to EU election observers, saying the EU must first lift sanctions against South American officials.
After signing the document, President Maduro said the act showed “we do not want violence… we trust the electoral authorities.”
“I call on all Venezuelans to respect this document and support the National Electoral Council, its words are sacred,” Maduro said.
