On June 15, the new members of the National Electoral Council (CNE, for its acronym in Spanish) in Venezuela took office, who had previously been appointed by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ, for its acronym in Spanish). The president of the National Assembly (AN, for its acronym in Spanish), Juan Guaidó, criticized the measure, as the Constitution establishes that it is this institution which is responsible for electing the members of the CNE, not the TSJ. Meanwhile, the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, supported the new CNE and said that before the end of the year, legislative elections will be held to renew the composition of the AN.

It should be recalled that on June 11, the TSJ declared the “unconstitutional omission” (or violation of the duty to legislate) of the National Assembly (AN) regarding the election of the CNE members. At the time, Guaidó declared that the TSJ was violating the procedures established to designate the CNE, which includes a public call for someone to run as a candidate, as well as the study of the profile of the interested parties.

However, given the upcoming election of the new members of the CNE and Maduro’s confirmation of the holding of legislative elections this year, Guaidó assured that “we are not going to lend ourselves to any farce.”