CARACAS, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela on Tuesday invited the United Nations to send an observers team to oversee its presidential elections on April 22.

A formal invitation was delivered to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, president of the National Electoral Council, Tibisay Lucena, said.

Lucena added that the UN team will not be the only international observers. However, there were no immediate details on other delegations.

The presidential elections will be held on April 22, after the Constituent Assembly brought it forward from December 2018.

The decision has been widely rejected by the opposition parties, splitting the opposition alliance, the Democratic Unity Roundtable, into those who want a full boycott of the election and those who want to present a single opposition candidate.

President Nicolas Maduro will be seeking another term in office, despite criticism over his handling of the economy.