Venezuela Leader's Allies Examine Petition to Oust him

Venezuela on Wednesday started verifying nearly two million signatures of voters petitioning for a referendum on getting rid of President Nicolas Maduro, as he launched fresh maneuvers against his opponents.

With the oil-rich, cash-poor country in economic crisis, Maduro said he would allow a referendum if the petition is validated. But his side looked likely to put roadblocks in the way.

Electoral authorities started checking the 1.85 million signatures gathered by the center-right opposition -- the first step towards calling a plebiscite.

"We are in the process of counting the forms, with security, speed and transparency," said the president of the National Electoral Board, Tibisay Lucena.

The process will last "three or four days, maybe until Monday or Tuesday."

Lucena said pro-government and opposition observers were monitoring the process.

Maduro named his own commission of loyalists to oversee the verification process by the National Electoral Board (CNE).

If the electoral board validates the petition, the opposition must then seek a further four million signatures to call a referendum.

Maduro warned he would take "definite legal action" if any signatures were forged, but said he would let the referendum go forward if the opposition met all requirements.

"What the CNE says is sacred. If on this second step, they say that the signatures were collected, we head to a referendum, period," he said Tuesday.

However, he reiterated that the opposition's drive to get rid of him would fail.

The man Maduro appointed to oversee verification of the petition, former CNE president Jorge Rodriguez, indicated he was already sure that many of the signatures were invalid.

"In a few days, it is going to come out that they inflated the figure for the number of signatures they handed in, by a million," he said.

Even if that were the case, the remaining 850,000 signatures would still be more than four times the number needed legally to move forward with the referendum drive.

Government adviser Hermann Escarra said legal oversight procedures were likely to delay any referendum until mid-2017.

Under Venezuela's constitution, after January 10, 2017, a successful recall vote would transfer power to Maduro's vice president rather than trigger new elections.

The opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) is racing to hold a recall referendum before the end of the year.

"We are going to achieve it, because the Venezuelan people want to get rid of this government," said Jesus Torrealba, the coalition's executive secretary.

"If the CNE does not meet the deadlines, the people will take to the street," said Henrique Capriles, the center-right candidate who lost the 2013 vote.

Meanwhile, public sector workers are only working two days a week under emergency measures imposed by Maduro to save electricity.

Lucena insisted that would not hold up the counting of signatures.

"We are working tirelessly. We are working full time," she said.

Once-booming Venezuela, which has the world's largest proven oil reserves, has plunged into economic chaos as global crude prices have collapsed.

The opposition blames Maduro for the economic crisis, which has Venezuelans queuing for hours to buy rations of food and basic goods such as toilet paper.

Daily electricity cuts launched last week have raised discontent further.

Maduro's rivals vowed to get rid of him when they took control of the legislature this year after winning elections in December.

He has resisted their offensive so far through challenges in the Supreme Court. His critics say he controls both the court and the CNE.

Maduro on Tuesday issued a decree suspending the legislature's right to vote to remove cabinet ministers, after lawmakers last week tried to sack his food minister.

Maduro was elected president by a razor-thin margin in 2013. A recent poll found that more than two-thirds of Venezuelans want him to leave office.

The tensions have raised fears of violence in a country rocked by protests that left 43 people dead in 2014.

Lucena accused the opposition of waging "a strategy of provoking social tension" by criticizing the CNE.

"If it is not stopped, it may lead us to ignorance of the public institutions and situations of violence."