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Venezuela's supreme court tightens conditions for recall referendum against Maduro

Xinhua, October 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

Venezuela's Supreme Court (TSJ) late on Monday tightened the conditions for a recall referendum to be called against President Nicolas Maduro.

In a statement, it explained that the signatures of 20 percent of the electorate would have to be collected in each of the country's 24 states, and not totally nationwide.

The country's Constitution does not establish if the 20 percent threshold should be tallied nationally or counted in every region, according to legal experts. The opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) had stated the threshold should be counted nationally.

They will have just three days, between Oct. 26-28, to gather signatures by 20 percent of registered voters, or 3,893,127 people.

"The failure to collect this percentage in any of the states or the Capital District, will negate the valid calling of the presidential recall referendum," said the TSJ statement.

Furthermore, the court said that the collection of signatures would not automatically lead to a referendum against Maduro.

"The stage of collecting expressions of intent cannot and must not be confused with the referendum in any way," read the text.

The National Electoral Council will rule on Nov. 28-29 on whether the recall referendum can proceed or not, after counting and validating the signatures.

The MUD predictably reacted furiously to the decision by the TSH. On Tuesday, its executive secretary, Jesus Torrealba, promptly refused to accept the ruling.

"We will not obey officials who are trying to violate the spirit and text of the Constitution," Torrealba told the press. "In this case, as we wish to revoke the presidency, the district is national."

Also Tuesday, MUD congressman Julio Borges told a press conference that the sentence "had already been discounted. It does not add anything, except to show that the judiciary is subordinate to a political group."

According to Borges, the ruling by the TSJ is "unconstitutional and shows the Venezuelan government is trying to order the National Assembly.

However, a lawmaker from Maduro's Great Political Pole, Simon Bolivar, challenged these objections.

"If they (the opposition) are so certain of having so much support, what is the fear in having to collect the signatures," he asked during an interview with Globovision. Endit