16.02.201815:52:00UTC+00MADURO: If Opposition Does Not Register, There Will Still Be Election

Venezuelan President Nicol?s Maduro warned that if the opposition to his administration does not register for the presidential election on April 22, there will be elections anyway, and a winner will be elected legitimately.

"If the opposition does not register, what will happen in Venezuela? There will be elections, and there will be a legitimately elected president who will lead the country until 2025," Maduro said, quoted by the state-owned Venezuelan News Agency.

Last week, Venezuela's Electoral Council (CNE) chairwoman, Tibisay Lucena, announced that the presidential elections in the country would be held on April 22.

The announcement came amid a climate of disagreement between the government and the opposition over the elections. While the government signed a pre-agreement, and that included holding elections in the next few months, the opposition dodged to sign the pact.

Instead, the opposition demanded, among other things, that the government lift the political disqualifications to the two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles and Leopoldo L?pez, opposition leader under house arrest, and that the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), which was created as a loose coalition of opposition parties, be recognized as a party.

A few months ago, the anticipation of the presidential election was among the main demands of the Venezuelan opposition to Maduro's administration.