WRITTEN QUESTION E-0146/04 by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission. Venezuela referendum.
Date: 2004-01-26
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU relations, Organisation of American States, Venezuela, constitutional court, control of constitutionality, petition, political situation, referendum

C 88 E/686

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.4.2004

(2004/C 88 E/0705)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0146/04

by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission

(26 January 2004)

Subject: Venezuela referendum

The Venezuelan constitution provides for the possibility of calling a referendum to remove Heads of State
from power after completion of half their appointed mandate, the condition for calling such a referendum
i.e. 2,6 million
being the signatures of at least 20 % of the 11 million strong Venezuelan electorate,
individuals.

With precisely this end in view, the Venezuelan opposition handed over the total of 121 boxes, containing
some three million signatures,
in order to bring about a
referendum which could bring about the destitution of President Hugo Chávez.

to the National Electoral Council

(NEC),

The media report
signatures,
in what
democratisation of the country.

looks

that

the authorities only recently announced that

they had begun verifying the
like yet another blatant delaying tactic to undermine the full-scale

This situation has led the opposition to question the fitness of the NEC, in the wake of its continual
postponing of
the verification procedure, and protests are already taking place outside the NEC
headquarters.

The Commission:

(cid:1) what information does it have in this connection;

(cid:1) has it sought any guarantee form the Venezuelan authorities that the verification of the signatures will

be carried out freely and fairly;

(cid:1) over and above the Electoral Observers’ Mission which it has already said it would send,

is the
Commission prepared to monitor and assess the fairness of the preliminary process of verifying the
signatures, should this be proposed or suggested? Could this be a task for the likewise already
announced Exploratory Mission? Or does the Commission believe that lumping this together with the
task of assessing whether EU observers are advisable, useful and possible could in fact prejudice their
involvement;

(cid:1) what is it’s assessment of Venezuelan political life in the last few months?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(2 March 2004)

The Venezuelan constitution foresees the possibility of referenda to recall public elected authorities who
have reached the half term of their mandate. This was reiterated in the Agreement signed between the
government and the opposition on 29 May 2003. With this aim, the opposition has been involved in
collecting signatures to request referenda to recall President Chávez and 27 pro-government Members of
the National Assembly and the government’s supporters have also collected signatures for referenda against
37 pro-opposition members of the National Assembly.

The National Electoral Council (NEC) is currently verifying the signatures presented on 19 December 2003
by the opposition and those presented earlier by government supporters and should have completed this
task on 13 February 2004, but it has been delayed until the end of February or beginning of March 2004.
If there are sufficient signatures (more than 2,4 million to recall the President) the NEC must organise (a)
referendum/a within 97 days (end of May 2004). Therefore,
the validation of signatures is of key
importance. The NEC is carrying out the verification under considerable pressure, but has received strong
international support, including that of the EU. The process is progressing with minor difficulties, though
the opposition has accused some members of the NEC of intentional delays in their work.

The OAS (Organisation for American States) and the CC (Carter Centre), invited by the government, are
observing the verification of the signatures, in order to guarantee the transparency of the process and
demonstrate that it is been undertaken in a fair way. The OAS and CC were initially just invited to be
present at two of the six steps of the verification process but, following an OAS request, the invitation has
been extended to all stages.

8.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 88 E/687

The Commission is financially supporting the OAS in the implementation of the 29 May 2003 Agreement,
with an amount of EUR 600 000. Nevertheless, the Commission is not playing any other role within the
process, because it has not been invited either to observe the collection of signatures or to support the
verification.

The Commission supports the NEC efforts to comply with its constitutional role of verifying the signatures
and has no reasons to believe the NEC will fail
in its obligations. It is very important that both the
government’s supporters and opposition publicly commit themselves to accept any decision which is
consistent with the constitution and democratic principles. The EU (Declaration of 22 December 2003) has
publicly urged both parties to act in this sense. President Chávez and some parts of the opposition have
done so and this contributes to decreasing possible political tension.

If the NEC’s decision is that a Presidential referendum should take place, and provided that Venezuelan
authorities issue an invitation to the European Union to observe, the Commission will deploy an Electoral
Observation Exploratory Mission to Venezuela to make recommendations as to whether the deployment of
a full EU observation mission would be advisable, useful and feasible, in accordance with the practice laid
down in the Commission’s Communication on Election Assistance and Observation (1).

The Commission is pleased by the fact that the processes of signature collection took place in an
atmosphere of tolerance and restraint and hopes that the same spirit of tolerance will prevail during the
verification process and when the NEC announces the results.

(1) COM(2000) 191 final.

(2004/C 88 E/0706)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0148/04

by Cees Bremmer (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(26 January 2004)

Subject: Human rights in Burma

Is the Commission aware of the very serious human rights abuses in Burma committed by the military
junta since the most recent democratic elections in 1990? These abuses have involved the oppression of
various ethnic groups, which have led to, among other things, the problem of Burmese refugees in north-
east India (Christians from the Chin ethnic group), who fled the terror inflicted by the Burmese army, and
to the problem of the Burmese Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh?

Does the Commission share the view that Burma has failed significantly to meet its obligations as a
member of the UN and that it is the task of the international community, and of the European Community
in particular, to bring this to Burma’s attention?

Does the Commission share the view that the issue of human rights in Burma can be resolved only
through a process of democratisation based on dialogue between the military junta, the democratic
opposition and ethnic groups?

With regard to the above point, is the Commission prepared to contribute to the reinforcement of Burma’s
nascent civil society in, for example, the areas of healthcare, education and the environment, where needs
are greatest due to a lack of funds and of organised initiatives?

Is the Commission also prepared to contribute to resolving the refugee question by calling on the Indian
authorities not to put any more pressure on Burmese displaced persons in north-east India, and by
facilitating the provision of humanitarian aid? Is the Commission further prepared to apply pressure on the
Bangladeshi authorities and the UNHCR to ensure that Burmese Rohingya Muslim refugees in the
recognised official refugee camps in southern Bangladesh are not forced to return and that unrecognised
Rohingya Muslim refugees receive some kind of humanitarian aid?