Election of Peace Judges Strengthens Venezuelan Democracy: President Maduro
A Venezuelan woman casts her vote in the election of peace judges, Dec. 15, 2024. X/ @ZamoraMatea13
December 15, 2024 Hour: 1:50 pm
For the first time in this nation’s history, these community-level authorities will be chosen from among 52,288 candidates.
On Sunday, as the 25th anniversary of the creation of the new Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is being celebrated, millions of citizens aged 15 and older are going to the polls to elect 15,000 community-level peace judges for the first time.
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Each Venezuelan will be able to select three main judges and three alternate ones at 4,862 voting centers set up to collect the people’s will until 6:00 PM. These community-level authorities will be chosen from among 52,288 citizens who registered as candidates.
According to the Special Jurisdiction for Community Justice of Peace Law, the primary functions of peace judges include: mediating disputes or conflicts within the community through arbitration, conciliation, and equity; preserving harmony in family relations, neighborhood and community coexistence; resolving issues arising from the actions of People’s Power agencies and organizations; and focusing on general community problems and individual concerns of citizens.
Through social media, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro highlighted that this unprecedented process is the result of decades of relentless efforts to build new forms of democracy that the Bolivarian Revolution has been fostering since the era of Commander Hugo Chavez.
“Twenty-five years ago, guided by the great leader Hugo Chavez, we took bold steps when we approved the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, unique in 200 years of history,” he recalled.
“We left behind the outdated, rotten, representative democracy of the corrupt and decadent elites, and we began building the foundations of a new society and a new state.”
“On Dec. 15, we are settling a historic debt by holding elections for peace judges to continue strengthening our participatory and protagonist democracy,” Maduro stated.
“With the Constitution, everything; outside the Constitution, nothing! In the face of fascist attempts to undermine it, we will continue defending our Constitution with determination,” he said, referring to attempts by transnational far-right forces to delegitimize the results of Venezuelan democratic processes.
teleSUR/ JF Sources: teleSUR – Venezuelan News
