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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Nearly two million Venezuelans sign on for Maduro recall |
| 2016-05-03 |
| [FRANCE24] Venezuela's opposition presented reams of signatures to election authorities Monday calling for a referendum to remove President Nicolas Maduro, whom it blames for the country's crushing economic crisis. Venezuelans fed up with food shortages, soaring inflation and now a paralyzing electricity crunch have flocked to sign a petition for a recall referendum, according to the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD). It said it had presented 1.85 million signatures -- more than nine times the number needed to launch the referendum process -- to the National Electoral Board. MUD executive secretary Jesus Torrealba said 80 boxes packed with referendum petitions had been presented to the authorities. However, there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... board official Tania D'Amelio suggested Sunday on Twitter that the authorities might not start verifying the signatures until late May. That drew opposition cries of bias in favor of Maduro and the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). "There's no doubt about it... Tania D'Amelio is a supporter and unconditional activist of the PSUV and is working to prevent a recall referendum this year," said Henry Ramos Allup, the speaker of the opposition-controlled legislature. Racing against clock Opponents are racing to hold a recall referendum before the end of the year. Under Venezuela's constitution, after January 2017 a successful recall vote would transfer power to Maduro's vice president rather than trigger new elections. The constitution gives the authorities five days to verify the signatures collected by the opposition. But D'Amelio indicated that the five-day countdown would begin only once the full 30 days allotted for circulating the petition had lapsed. The opposition insists there is no need to wait until the end of the 30-day period because it already surpassed the required 200,000 signatures "in record time." If the electoral board accepts the signatures as valid -- far from a sure bet -- the opposition will then have to collect four million more for the board to organize the vote. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 You couldn't get to million Mexicans into Venezuela with a diesel getting machine. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2016-05-03 20:14 |
| #5 Maybe they'll be able to replace 'em with Mexicans. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2016-05-03 12:20 |
| #4 Tomorrow's headline: 2 million Venezuelans arrested for treason |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2016-05-03 09:22 |
| #3 That's a lot of people for the Soviet to shoot in 5 verification days. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2016-05-03 09:09 |
| #2 However, board official Tania D'Amelio suggested Sunday on Twitter that the authorities might not start verifying the signatures until late May. and The constitution gives the authorities five days to verify the signatures collected by the opposition. *AHEM* |
| Posted by: Frank G 2016-05-03 09:01 |
| #1 Maduro: "Unfortunately, 1.82 Million signatures were deemed false upon a cursory check. I believe that on further investigation, it could rise to 1.9 Million false signatures" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2016-05-03 08:59 |