Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Saturday that he would hold a referendum asking the Venezuelans to decide whether he should extend his presidency until 2031 if the opposition pull out of December's presidential election.

"I am going to call a referendum. I am going to ask you, all the people if you agree with Chavez being president until 2031," said Chavez at a stadium to his supporters in the central Lara state.

Poll results show Chavez will probably win the December vote. Four government opponents have announced to run against Chavez, but no single opposition candidate has been chosen yet.

The Democratic Action party, one of the opposition parties, said on Wednesday that it would not take part in the presidential election in December under current conditions.

Chavez is qualified to be re-elected in December as president for another six-year term, but he could not run again in 2012 because the constitution allows a president to be re-elected only once in immediate succession, which can be changed by referendum.

Venezuelan major opposition parties boycotted the legislative elections last December in which Chavez supporters got all 167 seats in the National Assembly. The opposition has alleged electoral fraud and called for annulment of the results.

Source: Xinhua