Venezuela govt seeks to ban opposition over recall 'fraud'

CARACAS: The Venezuelan government asked electoral authorities Tuesday to ban the opposition coalition seeking to oust President Nicolas Maduro in a recall vote, accusing them of massive fraud.
Ratcheting up the tension in a country pushed to the brink of collapse by an economic crisis, Maduro's camp hit back with a vengeance on the same day the opposition was hoping to get a green light to go ahead with its bid to call a recall referendum.
"We have just asked for the cancellation of the registration of the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), for being involved in the worst vote fraud in the country's history," said Jorge Rodriguez, Maduro's designated aide to monitor the recall process.
He accused the opposition of including the names of thousands of dead people, convicts and minors in a petition submitted in May with 1.8 million signatures requesting a recall vote.
The opposition has denied such charges, accusing the authorities of stalling.
Tuesday was the final day for the National Electoral Council (CNE) to rule on the validity of the signatures, the first stage of the long and winding recall procedures.
Maduro's opponents are racing to complete the process by January 10, the cutoff to trigger new elections.
After that date – four years into the president's six-year term – a successful recall vote would simply transfer power to Maduro's hand-picked vice president.
Venezuela has sunk into crisis as global prices for its main export, oil, have collapsed.
The economy is set to contract eight percent this year, its third year of recession, a UN panel forecast Tuesday.
Food shortages, hyperinflation, looting, lynchings and mounting chaos are fuelling growing discontent with Maduro.
A recent poll found 64 percent of Venezuelans would vote to remove him in a referendum.
But time is not on the opposition's side.
Even if the CNE validates the initial recall petition, the opposition will still have to collect another four million signatures, or 20% of the electorate, in just three days.
If those signatures are accepted, it would force a recall referendum, in which Maduro's opponents would need more votes than he won with in 2013 – around 7.5 million.
'No way'
Maduro's camp has plenty of ways to stall.
Besides seeking to have MUD declared illegal, Maduro's allies have filed more than 8,000 legal challenges to the referendum drive before prosecutors and the Supreme Court.
The leftist president's right-hand man, Diosdado Cabello, pooh-poohed the opposition's efforts.
"There's no way there will be a recall election," said Cabello.
"There won't be a recall election in 2016, or in 2017 either, at the rate we're going."
The opposition submitted 1.8 million signatures in May calling for Maduro to face a recall, 1.3 million of which were accepted by the CNE.
Signatories then had to show up at electoral offices last month to give their fingerprints and validate their identity, braving long lines and sweltering heat.
Opposition leaders said 326,000 signatories had been fingerprinted across the country during the five-day process – well over the 200,000 needed.
Protests loom
Venezuela's economic tailspin is threatening Maduro and the leftist "revolution" launched in 1999 by his late predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chavez.
The opposition's referendum push comes after it won legislative elections in December, only to find its power stymied by a Supreme Court it condemns as a Maduro lapdog.
The fractious centre-right coalition has not fared much better with its referendum drive.
It accuses the government of sabotaging the process through delays, obstacles, threats and retaliation against signatories.
Opposition leaders have called nationwide demonstrations for Wednesday to pressure the government. — AFP