In the local elections held in Venezuela last November, the opposition candidate, who won the Barinas state, won the re-elections on the grounds that “he cannot be the governor of the state”, and the opposition candidate Sergio Garrido, who received 55.36 percent of the votes.
According to the preliminary results announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE), 97.40 percent of the votes were counted, according to which Garrido, the candidate of the opposition Democratic Unity Desk (MUD) alliance led by Juan Guaido, is the candidate of the ruling Nicolas Maduro and former Minister of Foreign Affairs. He won the election, beating Jorge Arreaza by over 14 percent.
In Barinas, where 607 thousand 642 registered voters are registered, although the turnout in the elections increased by 5.3 percent compared to November, it is noteworthy that the opposition increased the gap with the ruling party from 0.39 percent to 14 percent.
The political significance of the state of Barinas stems from the fact that it is the hometown of Hugo Chavez, the predecessor of the ruling Nicolas Maduro, and to this day one of the most important strongholds of the ruling party.
The people of Barinas, who spoke VOA Turkish, said that this result should be understood as the reaction of the people to the government, which could not find a solution to the economic, social and political crisis. In addition, the people of Barinas state that as a result of the election, the tendency of the opponents to go to the polls, who saw that the opposition won in the past elections, is effective. Experts note that most of the 49 percent who did not go to the polls consisted of those who supported the government for a while.
In Barinas, which has been ruled by the Chavez family since 1998, Chavez’s father for two terms, Chavez’s eldest brother for two terms, and Argenis Chavez, who was re-elected after serving between 2017-2021, but withdrew from the candidacy after being defeated at the ballot box.
Among the chronic problems experienced in the state, which is known for its wide and watery plains and where the majority of the people make their living from agriculture and animal husbandry, are power cuts, public transportation problem, bottled gas shortage, inability to supply the necessary materials, tools and equipment for agriculture and livestock, and corruption cases.
Re-election decision was made
After the National Election Council (CNE) announced that the ruling party candidate Argenis Chavez had won Barinas in the local elections held on November 21, 2021, the Constitutional Court (TSJ) announced that the opposition candidate Freddy Superlano had won the election as a result of the recount of the votes. However, the court announced that the elections would be repeated on January 9, 2022, as Superlano could not become governor due to the “ongoing investigation against him”.
The opposition claimed that no warning was given by the relevant institutions during the candidacy process of Superlano, that the decision to repeat the elections was not legal but political, and that it did not want to accept defeat in Barinas, which was seen as the stronghold of the ruling party and had symbolic significance.