(VOVworld) - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro Saturday said that the opposition referendum to revoke him will not take place this year.

Mr Maduro was elected in 2013 for a six-year term (bbc)

The statement was made one day after President of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Tibisay Lucena, announced to verify at least 200,000 signatures collected by the Democratic unity Roundtable (MUD) who called for a 4-day referendum starting from June 20^th to oust President Nicolas Maduro. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez told a diplomatic delegation in Caracas on Saturday that Article 72 of the constitution states that the referendum couldn’t take place this year because the MUD should have submitted signatures on January 11^th instead of May 2^nd. She accused the opposition of fooling the international community about the deadline for the referendum, adding that the Venezuelan government is always willing to hold talks and conciliation.