Tibisay Lucena, the president of the Consejo Nacional Electoral (CNE), appeared in an interview on the Jose Vicente Hoy television show and she spoke about the recall referendum process that is underway against Maduro.
Lucena said that the CNE is still in the process of verifying the signatures and fingerprints collected earlier this month in favour of the recall, and that the body would be ready to issue a statement on the process on Tuesday.
If the CNE announces that the signatures and fingerprints collected meet the requirements, then the second step of the recall process can begin. This second step will involve collecting signatures from 20% of registered voters.
Lucena stressed that the recall referendum cannot take place yet because the CNE has not yet authorized it. She said:
We can’t move to hold a recall referendum because the requisites have not been met. Once all the mechanisms [sic] have been met, that’s when the Council will take the necessary measures.
When asked about the widely-held view that the CNE is purposely delaying the referendum by taking an unnecessary amount of time to verify and re-verify signatures, Lucena said:
The National Electoral Council cannot rush the recall, and it also cannot delay it.
Lucena also advocated for those who oppose the referendum, saying:
We are facing something that is really important. There is a group of citizens here who have the right to request a recall referendum, and this is something that we must guarantee. But there’s another group of people who also have the right for the person for whom they voted [Maduro] to finish his term.
It is not immediately clear on what basis Lucena made the comment, since there is in fact no such thing as “the right to see the person you voted for complete their term in office” anywhere in Venezuelan law or the Constitution.
The right to recall elected officials (including the President of the Republic), on the other hand, is clearly articulated in article 72 of the Constitution.
MUD Will March on Wednesday to CNE
The Mesa de la Unidad Democratica (MUD) announced today that it would attempt to march from the Bello Monte subway station to the headquarters of the CNE in Caracas on Wednesday. The march was announced by National Assembly deputy Freddy Guevara during a press conference earlier today.
The purpose of the march will be to put pressure on the CNE to stop stalling the recall referendum process against Maduro.
Previous attempts to reach the CNE have been met with overwhelming repression by the national authorities, including the deployment of hundreds of National Guard and National Bolivarian police officers and armored vehicles to block the demonstrator’s path.
The march is scheduled to start at 9:30 AM.
Maduro No-Show In Commemorative Act; Padrino Lopez Attends Instead
Maduro broke with tradition today by not appearing at a military parade to commemorate that 193rd anniversary of the Battle of Lake Maracaibo, the last battle between Venezuelan and Spanish forces during the War of Independence. Instead, Minister of Defense Vladimir Padrino Lopez headed the act, which took place in Zulia state.
Lopez spoke from the podium at one point, and greeted the crowd of military staff and diplomats on behalf of Maduro, saying:
A Bolivarian, profoundly chavista, patriotic and solidary greeting from Mr. President Nicolas Maduro Moros, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
(…)
He [Maduro] has really insisted in asking me to let the people of Zulia and all of you, men in white [Navy uniforms are white], his profound admiration, his profound love for all of the efforts and the historic legacy.
The Battle of Lake Maracaibo was a naval engagement, which is why the navy features predominantly in the events commemorating the day. Today’s event included 35 ships and 2,520 naval staff.
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