Saturday, September 24, 2005
This is what happens when...
...you don’t have primaries. Last week I mentioned what a tragedy it is for Venezuelan democracy that none of the parties participating in the upcoming legislative elections, including the ruling MVR of President Chavez, are selecting their candidates through primaries. The results are entirely predictable (from Ultimas Noticias):
So Willian Lara is upset because some jilted MVR members have decided to run on their own. Well, what did they expect? Its one thing to ask the losers of primaries to bow out gracefully, accept their loss, and close ranks and support the party. Its something else entirely to not even allow people compete for these nominations. In my post of last week I made a mistake when I said there were no consequences to not holding primaries. In truth, there is a price to be paid for not allowing internal democracy. This is one manifestation of this.
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Eighteen militants of the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR), among them the governor of Trujillo, Gilmer Viloria, were expelled from the party for having become parallel candidates to the candidates of the MVR for the upcoming parliamentary elections of December 4.
So Willian Lara is upset because some jilted MVR members have decided to run on their own. Well, what did they expect? Its one thing to ask the losers of primaries to bow out gracefully, accept their loss, and close ranks and support the party. Its something else entirely to not even allow people compete for these nominations. In my post of last week I made a mistake when I said there were no consequences to not holding primaries. In truth, there is a price to be paid for not allowing internal democracy. This is one manifestation of this.
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