President Nicolas Maduro’s triumph is upheld by the nation’s highest court, putting an end to weeks of unrest punctuated by bitter disputes and allegations between the opposition and the ruling party.
President Nicolas Maduro’s victory in the July 28 presidential election was confirmed by Venezuela’s Supreme Justice Tribunal, securing institutional support for the ruling party as the race fades from the news across the world.
Caryslia Rodriguez, head of the Supreme Tribunal, stated on Thursday that the tribunal has examined evidence from the electoral authority and has concluded that Maduro was the winner. The ruling is final and cannot be challenged.
“The results of the presidential election of July 28 released by the national electoral council, where Nicolas Maduro was elected president of the republic, are validated,” Rodriguez stated.
Although it hasn’t released complete counts, the electoral body has stated since election night that Maduro received slightly more than half of the vote.
An further six-year term
The opposition has posted on the internet what it claims to be an 83 percent vote tallying from voting machines, meaning that 67 percent of voters back its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez.
According to Rodriguez, a copy of the court’s ruling will be given to the attorney general so that it can be incorporated into criminal investigations into online election results.
Following their calls for security forces to uphold election results, Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado are being probed for a number of offenses, including reportedly inciting military personnel to commit crimes.
With the ratification, Maduro—who assumed office in 2013—is granted Venezuela further six-year term, which will start in January.
The judges of the court called each candidate to present the copies of the voting machine tallies to which they are legally entitled.
Gonzalez ignored the summons from the court. Even though the court is autonomous under the constitution, the opposition has criticized it.
Gonzalez faces consequences for the opposition’s “blatant disrespect” and failure to turn over copies, although Rodriguez did not say what kind of penalties would apply.
Rodriguez continued, “The electoral council should release its final results,” but he did not elaborate.
