The referendum on recalling Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro could be held early next year, the country's election board has announced. The move allows the ruling party to stay in power regardless of the outcome.
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The election officials met with representatives of both the government and the opposition in an attempt to map out the road to the expected vote.
Assuming that the opposition fulfills the remaining requirements for the referendum, "the event could be held in the middle of the first quarter of 2017," the commission said in a statement on Wednesday.
Government opponents had hoped to hold the vote before January 10th - this would have triggered a new election in the event of Maduro's defeat. A later vote, on the other hand, would simply see Maduro succeeded by his vice-president, keeping the Socialist party in power at least until 2019.
Since the beginning of the recall campaign, the opposition has repeatedly accused the electoral officials of dragging their feet to protect Maduro.
"We reject the anti-constitutional elements of this announcement by the election board," said Jesus Torrealba, the head of the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) coalition, on Wednesday.
Ruling party calls opposition 'cheats'
The board also announced the terms for the next stage of the complicated recall procedure, which requires the opposition to gather some 4 million signatures, or 20 percent of voters, to schedule the vote.
Protests against the Venezuelan government continue
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In a blow to the opposition, the officials also required that the campaign gather over 20 percent of voters in each of Venezuela's 23 states. Furthermore, the election board said it would not provide the 19,500 vote machines demanded by the opposition. The officials only approved around 5,400 machines for the three-day signature drive in late October.
Ggovernment officials have meanwhile accused the campaigners of cheating to gain signatures for an earlier petition that triggered the referendum procedure in the first place.
"There will be no referendum in 2016, it's not under discussion. They are cheats," a senior Socialist Party leader Diosdado Cabello said on state TV.
Scarcity, riots and drought: Venezuela is in trouble
Lufthansa has canceled service to Caracas as Venezuela's economic turmoil worsens. The country is one of the world's largest oil producers, but plunging prices have brought inflation to 180 percent in the past year.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/EFE/M. Gutiérrez
Hyperinflation bites into economy
Hyperinflation has made doing business in Venezuela untenable for many domestic and foreign firms. With the currency dropping, the government has made it difficult to convert bolivars into US dollars.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/G. Ismar
Food shortages
Food shortages have become pervasive, spurred on by hyperinflation. Empty store shelves have become all too common across Venezuela.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Barreto
Queuing up to buy food
Food shortages mean that people have to wait in line to buy essential food items at select locations. Here people line up outside a supermarket in the poor neighborhood of Lidice, in Caracas.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/R. Schemidt
Gathering signatures
Opposition leaders launched a petition drive to collect signatures for a recall referendum. They needed 200,000 signatures, or 1 percent of the electorate, but they got 1.8 million voters to sign.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gutierrez
Green light for petition
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles shows journalists that the National Election Council has given permission for the referendum to go ahead. But President Nicolas Maduro's government is trying to delay the vote.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gutierrez
Pushing for referendum
Protesters have taken to the streets, demanding that the referendum go forward.
Image: Reuters/M. Bello
Students protest
Students have also taken to the streets to demonstrate. They are protesting both the overall economic stagnation and also the government's efforts to delay the referendum.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/R. Schemidt
Severe drought
A devastating drought has exacerbated Venezuela's problems. What was once a vast reservoir, held back by a hydroelectric dam, is now little more than a series of mud puddles.
Image: Reuters/C.G. Rawlins
Drought wreaks havoc
The country depends on the Guri Dam - one of the world's largest - for a significant portion of its electricity. While the reservoir is turning to desert, citizens endure daily black outs, and government offices open just two days a week to save electricity.
Image: Reuters/C.G. Rawlins
Health care suffers
Oliver Sanchez, 8, holds a sign that reads "I want to heal, peace, health" during a protest against the shortage of medicines in Caracas. Oliver has Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but the medicine he needs is no longer available.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/A. Cubillos
Maduro under fire
Venezuela's economic dip is largely the result of oil prices that have plunged more than 50 percent in the past two years. But a severe drought is crimping electricity supplies, and focusing people's ire on Maduro.