EU Dismayed At Venezuela Polls, Held Without ‘National Agreement’
The European Union is to “consider the adoption of adequate measures” in the wake of a controversial presidential and regional polls in Venezuela, saying the elections were held without “a national agreement, political pluralism, democracy, transparency, and rule of law”.
Federica Mogherini, EU’s foreign policy chief, in a statement urged Venezuela to “take concrete steps to fully respect the country’s constitution”.
Mogherini said the elections with the highest abstention rate in the country over the last decades “could have been a crucial opportunity for all Venezuelan citizens to express, through a democratic, free and transparent process, their political will and thereby determine the future of the country.”
“However,” Mogherini said, “presidential and regional polls went ahead without a national agreement on an electoral calendar and without complying with the minimum international standards for a credible process, not respecting political pluralism, democracy, transparency, and rule of law.”
