But the council’s ruling now means that should Maduro lose, his vice-president would take over, according to the constitution, keeping the Socialist Party in power at least until the next presidential election in late 2018.
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With Venezuela’s economy in crisis, with soaring inflation and widespread shortages, polls say a majority of Venezuelans want Maduro gone.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro speaks during his weekly broadcast “En contacto con Maduro” (In contact with Maduro) in Caracas, Venezuela September 20, 2016.
The spokesman for the opposition coalition, Jesus Torrealba, said at a news conference Wednesday night that the opposition would continue to demand a recall vote this year.
“The government is trying to demotivate people, but it could have the opposite effect and stoke indignation”, said Jacome. “They are cheats”, a senior Socialist Party leader Diosdado Cabello said on state TV.
Other conditions laid out by elections officials Wednesday were also unfavorable to the opposition.
As well as pushing a potential referendum into 2017, the election board rejected the opposition’s insistence that the next phase – the collection of the signatures of 20 percent of the country’s registered voters – should be at a national level with 19,500 voting machines available.
If the opposition next month successfully collects 20 percent of total voter signatures requesting the plebiscite, then it “could take place halfway through the first quarter of 2017”, the board said in a statement.
Rodriguez emphasized that it was the country’s National Election Council, or CNE, that issued a report certifying the cases of “fraud” during the process of verifying and authorizing the signatures collected by the opposition.
The decision is a setback for the opposition, which has been pressing for a vote to oust him.
The campaign also wanted to use the machines all day.
Foes of President Nicolas Maduro vowed to protest and accused Venezuela’s election authority on Thursday of ignoring popular will by quashing their push for a referendum this year on recalling the unpopular socialist leader. We are the great majority, the 80%!
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“We are quite sure of this: Millions of Venezuelans are going to mobilize and hand (Maduro) a resounding electoral defeat – as well as political and moral defeat”, Torrealba said.
