Venezuela’s top court suspends results of opposition presidential primary.

Despite an election accord between the government and the opposition that permits each group to pick its candidate, Venezuela’s Supreme Justice Tribunal told on Monday that it had postponed the results of an opposition presidential primary earlier this month. The primary was held this month.

The verdict might incur the wrath of the United States, which earlier this month eased some sanctions related to the oil and gas business and bond trading in exchange for the electoral arrangement.

The United States Department of State has already stated that it will reimpose sanctions if the administration of Nicolas Maduro does not eliminate prohibitions on specific opposition candidates, free political prisoners, and release Americans who were “wrongfully detained” before the end of November.

The attorney general said a week ago that his office is looking into the primary and some of the people who helped organize it for election fraud, financial crimes, and conspiracy. Now, the court has decided, even though the opposition sees the court as an instrument of the government.

According to statements made by the organizing commission on various social media platforms, members of the panel were scheduled to have interviews with prosecutors on Monday in connection with the investigation.

Both the opposition and the winner of the primary, Maria Corina Machado, have stated on several occasions that the vote that took place on October 22 was open and honest.

The administration has criticized widespread claims of fraud since the day of the vote, which more than 2.3 million people attended without the help of the state.

An electoral settlement between the administration of Nicolas Maduro, who has been in power for the past ten years, and the opposition was signed in Barbados. As part of the agreement, all parties consented to the presence of foreign observers and acknowledged that they had the right to select their candidate according to the policies of their respective parties.

A spokesman for the State Department issued the following statement: “We urge Nicolas Maduro and his representatives to uphold the commitments they made at the signing of the political roadmap agreement.” “The U.S. government will take action if Maduro and his representatives do not meet their commitments.”

The inquiry and the ruling were both carried out at the request of Representative Jose Brito, who, according to the court, expressed a desire to take part in the primary election.

Brito is not affiliated with any of the parties involved in the event.

“Following the request of preventative protection and in consequence, all the effects of the distinct phases of the electoral process conducted by the National Primary Commission are suspended,” the tribunal announced on its official website.

The tribunal has instructed the commission to produce all papers relating to its formation, including candidate registration data, voting records, and other materials.

It is also the responsibility of the commission to account for the involvement of candidates such as Machado, who is disqualified from running for public office due to a judgment that the opposition considers unlawful.

In light of the judgment, the primary election has been “temporarily suspended until there is a final decision from the tribunal,” according to Jose Vicente Haro, an attorney and university lecturer. “Because the ruling is rendered after the primary, the tribunal is running behind schedule. They were wrong to grant our petition in the first place.

According to the opinions of some commentators, the opposition parties that took part in the primary should acknowledge Machado once more as their unity candidate. This would render any verdict on the competition irrelevant.

After taking many months to react to the opposition’s request for assistance, the electoral authorities finally offered to help the opposition arrange the primary election this month. However, the opposition turned down their offer of aid and also asked that the election be delayed until November.