Venezuela’s top court has suspended the results of this month’s opposition primary despite promises from the socialist government of Nicolás Maduro to allow the opposition to choose its own leader.
The Supreme Justice Tribunal, which is stacked with government appointees, ruled that “all effects [of the primary] are suspended” and demanded that organisers hand over all ballots and other documentation relating to the vote. Market-friendly former politician María Corina Machado won the primary poll with about 93 per cent of the vote.
Monday’s announcement came as organisers of Venezuela’s primary appeared at the attorney-general’s office as part of a criminal probe into how the vote was conducted. Opposition members and analysts have dismissed the inquiry as a political move to discredit the primary and Machado’s candidacy.