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Venezuela president to allow referendum if signatures validated

Wednesday, 04 May 2016 8:07 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 04 May 2016 8:05 AM ]

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a May Day march in the capital, Caracas, May 1, 2016. (Photo by AP)

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro says he will allow a referendum vote on ousting him from power if electoral authorities confirm the signatures submitted on a petition asking for the vote.

“If on this second step, they say that the signatures were collected, we head to a referendum, period,” Maduro said in his weekly radio address on Tuesday.

He made the announcement hours before the National Electoral Council (CNE) was slated to begin inspecting 1.85 million signatures on a petition.

Venezuela’s right-wing opposition coalition, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), presented the petition to electoral officials on Monday, calling for a referendum to remove the Maduro.

It is not clear, however, whether Maduro’s Tuesday remark is in reference to the petition with the 1.85 million signatures or a second petition.

Under the Venezuelan constitution, the second petition will have to be held and collect some four million signatures to activate a recall referendum.

For the recall to be successful, an equal or greater number of voters than those who elected Maduro in a 2013 election would have to vote in favor. Maduro received 7,587,579 votes in the 2013 vote.

Anti-government demonstrators gather to sign a form to activate a referendum on cutting President Nicolas Maduro’s term short, in the capital, Caracas, April 27, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Jorge Rodriguez, the head of the signature verification board appointed by Maduro, said that the process would begin on Wednesday.

“In a few days, it is going to come out that they inflated the figure for the number of signatures they handed in, by a million,” Rodriguez has said.

If the opposition succeeds in recalling Maduro this year, there would be a new presidential election, which would give the opposition the chance to take over the government.

A recall in 2017, however, would leave the presidency in the hands of Vice President Aristobulo Isturiz.

Maduro has denounced the opposition’s plans as a US-backed attempt to bring about a coup d’état in Venezuela.

The oil-rich South American country is struggling with food shortages, soaring inflation and a power crunch.

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