MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

International observers in Venezuelan recall process

After meeting with former US president Jimmy Carter, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez accepted the proposal to have international observers supervising the process leading to an eventual recall referendum on his term in office.

President Chávez insisted with Mr. Carter that his government will accept "any decision" from the Electoral Board regarding his mandate including having to resign from office.

"I've nothing to fear, I want them to check everything; I've no problem, no nationalist complex in the matter", underlined the Venezuelan president.

However he challenged the opposition to adopt a similar stance and "clearly state if they will accept the ruling of the Electoral Board".

"It's a concern I transmitted to Mr. Carter and I told him he can "even look under the rug if he wishes", added President Chavez.

Mr. Carter arrived in Venezuela Sunday saying his goal was to "better understand the electoral process and at the same time determine how the Carter Centre could offer additional help."

The Atlanta-based Carter Centre, the Organization of American States and the U.N. Development Program are acting as mediators and "facilitators" in a drawn-out political conflict between supporters and opponents of president Chavez.

Actually the former U.S. president in 2003 was the first to suggest holding a referendum as prescribed by the Venezuelan Constitution to find a way out to the political crisis that has virtually paralyzed the country. The Election Board is currently validating the 3.4 million signatures presented by the opposition in support of president Chavez's recall

Mr. Chavez accused the Democratic Coordinator - the broad opposition coalition pressing for the recall - of having engaged in a "megafraud" signature drive, and of launching a media campaign to discredit the Electoral Board and to hide the fact that the signatures are insufficient.

"The political future of Venezuela rests on the shoulders of the Electoral Board and we at the Carter Centre are gratified and very satisfied with their performance to date," Mr. Carter told a press conference after meeting with the council. "It's very important for the media ... and for the general public to support the CNE and to give them their full confidence," Carter said.

Standing alongside the Electoral Board chairman Francisco Carrasquero, Mr. Carter said all of the council's decisions had been made in complete compliance with Venezuela's laws and Constitution.

An agreement signed in 2003 with the backing of the Carter Centre, the OAS and the UNDP, tasked the Electoral Board with conducting the recall election process, as a "democratic, electoral, constitutional and peaceful" instrument for settling the country's political differences. The Board has until Feb. 13 to announce if a recall election will be held.