Maduro loyalist sees no chance of referendum before December

A senior lawmaker from President Nicolas Maduro's Great Patriotic Pole coalition, said on Monday that he believed there was no chance of a recall referendum against President Nicolas Maduro before December.

Speaking at a press conference in Caracas, Diosdado Cabello responded to opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) having delivered 1.8 million signatures to the Electoral National Council (CNE) to demand the activation of the referendum process.

The MUD only needed signatures from 1 percent of the electorate, or 195,721 signatures. It said the 1.8 million signatures showed the level of discontent with Maduro's government.

"They are saying the referendum could happen in late November or early December, without counting on the time the CNE needs to check the signatures or prepare the country for an election," said Cabello, former president of the National Assembly.

"We will have to check if these figures are false and verify no fraud has been committed," added Cabello.

Despite the MUD being happy at the 1.8 million signatures it collected in this preliminary stage, if these are validated by the CNE, the opposition will then have three days to collect around 4 million signatures, or 20 percent of the electorate, to actually proceed with the referendum. Endit