Nicolas Maduro: ‘No referendum until next year’

President says his opponents will have to wait until next year to call a referendum to oust him.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro applauds as he attends a rally in Caracas
Opponents accuse Maduro of driving oil-rich Venezuela to near economic demise [Reuters/Handout]

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has insisted no referendum on ending his term will be held until next year, amid mounting pressure as the country teeters on the brink of economic collapse.

Maduro’s opponents are racing to call a referendum before January 10, as a successful recall vote before that deadline would trigger new elections rather than transfer power to the vice president.

If the opposition meets all requirements with their bid to oust him, “the recall referendum will be held next year. Period,” the president said on Saturday.

For months now, Maduro has faced increasing hostility, with opponents accusing him of driving oil-rich Venezuela to near economic demise and launching a marathon process to call a vote on ousting him from office.

READ MORE: Venezuela approves first step for Maduro recall vote

Maduro’s comments came after the National Electoral Board (CNE) announced it would take fingerprint scans from June 20 to 24 to confirm the identity of 1.3 million people who signed the opposition’s referendum petition.

The South American country’s state-led economy has seen its situation veer from bad to desperate, with long lines for basic items such as rice or corn meal, looting and black marketeering now everyday scenes.

Venezuela opposition clash with police, demand recall referendum

Seven in 10 Venezuelans want Maduro to go, according to polls cited by the AFP news agency.

“We must respect whatever the electoral authorities” decide, Maduro said at a pro-government event in Caracas.

Opposition members have said that they want the vote to be held in October or November 2016.

But the president insisted that they missed their chance.

“If they had wanted to seek a referendum this year, they would have to have requested it by January 11 of this year, for them to have had enough time, if all legal requirements were met,” Maduro said.

The referendum petition was submitted early last month.

READ MORE: Patients dying as crisis hits hospitals in Venezuela

Maduro said on Saturday that the government would be suing to have the referendum request itself revoked, filing such a measure at the Supreme Court on Monday.

He maintained that fraud was committed, claiming that the rolls of signatures included 11,000 dead people and 2,000 convicts.

Once 1.3 million signatures are verified, the opposition would have to gather four million more over the course of three days to trigger a recall vote.

The opposition maintains that the CNE rejected 600,000 signatures for reasons such as spelling mistakes.

“There are 600,000 of us who cannot even go and validate our signatures,” said Juan Carlos Caldera, an opposition liaison who communicates with the CNE.

In Washington, meanwhile, the Organization of American States announced late on Friday a special session of its permanent council on June 23 to discuss the situation in Venezuela.

The meeting was called by OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro, who warned of an “institutional crisis” in Venezuela that requires “immediate changes in the actions of the executive branch.”

Protests, looting and violent crime have been mounting in Venezuela as the country reels from shortages of food, water, medicine and electricity.

Source: AFP