[Iran Press TV] Venezuela's National Assembly has vowed to prosecute Nicolas Maduro for what it described as "violating democracy" after electoral officials suspended a recall referendum campaign that opposition parties had mounted against the South American country’s leader."It is a political and legal trial against President Nicolas Maduro to see what responsibility he has in the constitutional rupture that has broken democracy, human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
, and the future of the country," opposition politician Julio Borges said during a special congressional session on Sunday.
The National Electoral Council announced in a statement late on October 20 that it was putting a stop to the opposition-driven plebiscite against 53-year-old Maduro after four state courts called the signature-gathering process fraudulent.
The measure put an end to the opposition movement’s bid to end 17 years of socialist rule in Venezuela.
The government’s adversaries argue that the suspension of their effort to stage a plebiscite against Maduro shows that Venezuela has abandoned democracy.
Last week, the electoral council stated that a recall vote against Maduro could not take place this year, and that "the event could be held in the middle of the first quarter of 2017."