The opposition staged its largest street demonstration in years September 1 with a rally in Caracas demanding a referendum against Maduro be held in 2016.
Advertisement
Venezuela’s Electoral Authority said a recall vote against President Nicolas Maduro could be held in the first quarter of 2017 if all conditions were met. A later vote, on the other hand, would simply see Maduro succeeded by his vice-president, keeping the Socialist party in power at least until 2019.
“The government is scared to face the people in elections, in the street, in any civic arena”, he said.
The council also determined rules for the referendum, announcing that four million signatures – 20 percent of voters – must be collected over the course of three days between October 26 and 28.
“Twenty percent was not required per entity or state in 2004”, Rondon said, referring to the opposition’s unsuccessful attempt to recall the late Hugo Chavez, “I don’t understand how the legal considerations were developed”.
The MUD previously collected 1 percent of the signatures of almost 200,000 voters in order to activate the referendum.
Opposition members had wanted the 20 percent threshold to be at the national level and 19,500 vote machines to be placed around the country to maximize Maduro foes’ ability to register signatures.
The timing is crucial because if Maduro were to lose a referendum this year, as polls indicate he would because of an economic crisis, that would trigger a new presidential vote, giving the opposition a chance to end 17 years of socialism.
Socialist party leaders have been saying all along that any recall vote would not take place this year. Instead, the government will open polling stations for just seven hours daily.
Advertisement
The opposition has been calling for protests across the county to push for the recall referendum against the president. We are the great majority, the 80%!
