VENEZUELAN election officials told President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday that his plan to hold legislative, provincial and municipal elections on the same day in unfeasible.

“We are now not prepared to make a presidential election coincide with other elections that are technically more complex,” National Electoral Council (CNE) president Tibisay Lucena said.

Mr Maduro had suggested an omnibus election day to take place on April 22, which the CNE has already set for the presidential poll. But the elections body asserted its independence, saying that holding them all on the same day was beyond its capacity.

Ms Lucena indicated, however, that the parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for 2020, could take place sooner, saying that the CNE “will evaluate the future date of the parliamentary, legislative council and municipal elections.”

The opposition-controlled National Assembly had called Mr Maduro’s plan an “attempted coup,” claiming the government had a “totalitarian intent” to control “all public powers through a mega electoral simulation.”

The Organisation of American States (OAS) in Washington urged Caracas to cancel the April 22 presidential election, claiming a lack of transparency, but Venezuela’s ambassador Samuel Moncada rejected the interference, declaring: ”The elections have been confirmed and we shall have presidential elections in Venezuela.”

He blasted the OAS for trying to “strangle Venezuelan democracy,” accusing the US of strong-arming member states to pass the resolution.

While the opposition Mud coalition announced earlier this week that it would boycott the election, high-profile member Henri Falcon has indicated his intention to run.