Venezuela election body approves rules for anti-Chavez referendum

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, September 27, 2003

Venezuela election body approves rules for anti-Chavez referendum

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The National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela approved on Thursday night the rules for a referendum on the presidency of Hugo Chavez, which push back the holding of the recall vote into early next year, the press reported Friday.

The rules were approved by all the five members on the board ofdirectors of the electoral institution, Francisco Carrasquero, theCNE president, was quoted as saying.

Under the rules, it will take the opposition at least five months to complete the petitioning process, during which they willhave to collect at least 2.4 million signatures, or 20 percent of the electorate, accompanied by the fingerprints of those who sign.As a result, the recall vote can take place at the earliest in February.

The CNE will have 97 days to verify the signatures and set the date for the referendum, Carrasquero said.

Earlier this month, the CNE rejected the 3.2 million signaturesgathered by the opposition as invalid, saying the collection was made before "the period marked by law", namely Aug. 19, the halfway point in Chavez's six-year term.

The opposition has planned to launch a new signature campaign on Oct. 5.

Chavez's opponents have been trying to oust him for more than one year. Chavez has survived a 48-hour coup in April 2002 and a two-month general strike which crippled oil exports of Venezuela, the 5th largest oil exporter in the world.

Opposition leaders on Friday applauded the new rules, saying they pave the way toward holding the recall vote.

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