MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Signatures invalid, so probably no referendum this year

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, on a four-day official visit to Argentina, said Wednesday that it was unlikely that a referendum to recall his mandate would be held this year because the signatures submitted by the opposition to initiate the process have no constitutional validity.

"The signatures are not valid from any viewpoint because they were collected in February. The opposition did not want them checked, which is suspicious. And we have evidence that electronic bank signatures have been transferred to unofficial lists," Chavez said at a Buenos Aires news conference, at which he also commented on his Argentine visit.

He said that the only legal requirement complied with by the opposition Democratic Coordinator was to submit the signatures when he had served three years in office.

The Bolivarian Constitution provides for a referendum to recall the six-year presidential mandate when a president is halfway through his term, which in Chavez's case occurred on Aug. 19.

Chavez said that the opposition also did not meet other constitutional requirements such as submitting a number of signatures equivalent to 20 percent of the registered voters, allowing the electoral council to control the signature collection process and officially registering the signatures.

When questioned about the likelihood of the recall referendum being held this year, he said, "This would be very difficult because of the deadlines, because signatures must be reviewed and because you have to be extremely careful with details so all regulations are fulfilled ... with transparency." "I can't say that there will be no referendum, but it is not very likely, unless the opposition is willing to skip constitutional steps, in which case it would be a coup d'etat," Chavez declared.