Venezuela Election Board Greenlights 'First Phase' of Maduro Recall "The better Venezuela is coming."

Venezuela Election Board Greenlights 'First Phase' of Maduro Recall

"The better Venezuela is coming."

8.2.2016 

 

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 Sarah Fisher 

 

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Venezuela's election board has reviewed the petitions for the first phase of a recall of socialist President Nicolas Maduro and determined that the opposition movement had adequately collected the necessary signatures to move forward. 

However, council head Tibisay Lucena called for a judicial probe to look into some cases of identity fraud:

The timing is crucial because if Maduro were to lose a referendum this year, as polls indicate he would due to an economic crisis, that would trigger a new presidential vote, giving the opposition a chance to end 17 years of socialism.

But should he lose a referendum next year, Maduro, 53, would be replaced by his vice president, maintaining the Socialist Party in power until the OPEC nation's next presidential election scheduled for the end of 2018.

 The opposition is pushing Lucena to set a date for the collection of 4 million signatures to trigger the actual recall. 

"Only one step remaining," tweeted opposition lawmaker Freddy Guevara. "The better Venezuela is coming."

The government still insists there will be no referendum to recall Maduro. "Legally, it is dead," said senior Socialist Party leader Jorge Rodriguez.

But Lucena confirmed that the opposition collected twice as many signatures (408,000) as necessary for the first phase of the recall.