Venezuelan opposition fails to collect signatures to recall vote on Maduro
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The Venezuelan National Electoral Council rejects the petition calling for a referendum to remove President Nicolas Maduro from office after the opposition failed to collect the necessary number of signatures to proceed with the referendum.
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro
Venezuela's National Electoral Council rejected on Friday a petition calling for a referendum to remove President Nicolas Maduro from office.
The Election Council confirmed that the petition did not collect the necessary number of signatures to move forward with organizing the referendum, as the opposition managed to collect 42,421 signatures, while it was necessary to collect about 4.3 million signatures.
The council noted that the number of signatures amounted to 1.01% of the number of registered voters in the country, and the necessary 20% of voters' signatures were not collected in any Venezuelan state.
The opposition accused the election board of not having enough time to collect signatures and not providing a sufficient number of signature-collecting centers.
In this context, Maduro said, the oligarchy of North America wants to practice the so-called "juridical colonialism" in Venezuela. "Let us prepare to denounce the legal colonialism they want to impose on our country. Let us prepare our institutions to exercise sovereign justice and law, which is the way to end the juridical colonization they want to impose on Venezuela," he said.
#EnVideo📹| Presidente @NicolasMaduro alerta sobre una supeditación jurídica que se desea imponer en Venezuela:
— VTV CANAL 8 (@VTVcanal8) January 27, 2022
"Preparémonos para denunciar el Colonialismo Jurídico" afirmó. #VenezuelaVictoriosa pic.twitter.com/ToKdLK7Qoh
The Venezuelan president considered that the attempt to "reactivate the stupid referendum" has failed miserably," describing it as part of the attacks carried out by the opposition in Venezuela during the past few years.
It is noteworthy that the Venezuelan constitution provides for the possibility of a referendum to recall the president after two years of his term in office.
Earlier, the Venezuelan Parliament Speaker, Jorge Rodríguez, stressed the need for "the opposition to abandon hypocrisy and admit its mistakes" if it wants to start a dialogue again with the ruling party.
Venezuela announced the suspension of its participation in the dialogue with the opposition, last October, after the Cape Verde Islands handed Alex Saab, the Venezuelan president's envoy, to the United States.
