Venezuelan gov't, opposition agree to postpone election date to May

CARACAS, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's government and opposition groups on Thursday agreed to postpone presidential elections to the second half of May.

They also agreed to hold presidential and legislative elections for state and local representatives on the same date.

The elections date had been scheduled earlier to take place on April 22.

"The proposal is to hold the elections simultaneously in the last two weeks of May 2018," the head of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Tibisay Lucena, said as she read the text of the agreement.

Representatives from the government and several opposition parties signed the agreement at the CNE's headquarters in Caracas.

The new agreement calls on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to put together an observer mission to monitor the elections.

It also calls for the creation of a high-level group to ensure the electoral process proceeds as planned. It is to be comprised of representatives of the presidential candidates.

President Nicolas Maduro will run for reelection as the candidate of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). Former state governor Henri Falcon has registered to run against him as the candidate of the Progressive Advance (AP) and Movement Towards Socialism (MAS).

Representatives of those two parties signed Thursday's agreement.

The coalition of right-wing parties known as the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) says it intends to boycott the elections. Enditem