The members of the National Constituent Assembly (ANC) will be chosen in free, direct and secret elections by the Venezuelans, to form an instance that “defines the model of peaceful coexistence of Venezuelans” , said the head of the ANC’s Presidential Commission, Elías Jaua.
“Since there could be no dialogue (with the opposition), not even with the intermediation of the Pope, we have to convene on the country, and for the country to be the one to decide”, he said in the “Diálogo con” program, broadcast Sunday by Televén. “We go for Peace with dialogue”, he said. “The Constituent Assembly is looking for a great national dialogue between all sectors to find a peaceful way to keep us from those who have decided the way of war.”
Jaua referred to the vote: He pointed out that all citizens will be able to participate. First, there will be territorial circuits, which will be defined by the National Electoral Council (CNE). Then, there will be sectorial circuits: workers and businessmen registered in the Venezuelan Institute of Social Security (IVSS); Indigenous people, students, etc.
The first task of the Presidential Commission has been to meet with representatives from various fields, with the aim, as Jaua said, of informing the scope of the initiative and the programmatic lines, and answering doubts and observations.
“Once this consultation process is completed, the President will present the proposal of the commission bases to the CNE,” he added. The commission will be in charge of organizing the electoral process and set deadlines for registration and the date of voting.
Jaua noted that the operating time and guidelines of the ANC will be defined by the Assembly itself. It is a plenipotentiary instance, to which the rest of the State Powers must be subordinated.
Likewise, he explained that the goal “is not necessarily to end up making a new, different Constitution. The principle of sovereignty, independence, equality, popular democracy and protagonist (established in the Constitution of 1999) remains a valid element for this historical moment.
“Fundamentally, we are looking for a space for political encounter, for a great national debate that allows us to find, through the reordering of the State and the creation of norms of coexistence of two projects that are antagonistic, the road of peace for Venezuela”, he reiterated .
He repudiated the violent path chosen by the Venezuelan right wing. “The violence here is clear. We have seen deputies like Freddy Guevara leading violent groups. We have seen Julio Borges summoning for a rebellion and the blockades in the city, “he denounced.
He defended the actions of the State security agencies in the midst of the vandalism of ultra-right armed groups.
He also ruled out the possibility of making general elections, as the right wing puts it, because “That figure is unconstitutional, it does not exist in the Constitution.”
