13 April 2013Last updated at 21:27 ET

The Venezuelan opposition has made an official complaint against the government following allegations that it broke the law by continuing its electoral campaign on state television.

On the eve of the election, acting President Nicolas Maduro appeared on TV visiting the tomb of Hugo Chavez.

The opposition candidate Henrique Capriles said his opponent was "violating all the electoral norms".

On Saturday, he launched an internet channel to broadcast his own campaign.

Despite this, he said he had been "respecting the electoral rules, but those in power don't know anything other than the abuse of power".

Millions of Venezuelans will vote on Sunday for a successor to Hugo Chavez.

The former president died on 5 March, after a two-year long battle against an undisclosed type of cancer, prompting a short electoral campaign period before the 14 April elections.

Final rallies

His handpicked candidate Nicolas Maduro is seen as the front-runner, but recent polls said the gap between him and his rival, Mr Capriles, was narrowing.

Both sides staged massive rallies to mark the official end of their campaigns on Thursday.

But since 2002, Mr Chavez' supporters have staged celebrations on 13 April, the date when the late leader returned to power after a brief coup in 2002.

Venezuelan state television showed Mr Maduro visiting the tomb of the late leader, accompanied by the Argentine football star Diego Maradona, who also took part in Mr Maduro's final rally on Thursday.

An interview with the acting president about the short-lived 2002 coup was also broadcast.

Henrique Capriles has vowed to revamp the Venezuelan economy and tackle crime

On Friday, members of the opposition campaign said they had lodged an official complaint with the Electoral Commission.

"It's not possible that the official channel break the laws for sheer desperation," opposition leader Carlos Ocariz told Venezuelan TV station Globovision.

Mr Capriles also complained on Twitter, saying VTV was "shamelessly breaking the electoral rules".

For his part, Nicolas Maduro said on the micro-blogging site that there was an alleged "dirty war" being plotted against him from Colombia's capital, Bogota.

"(Political strategist) Juan Jose Rendon runs a group to poison the electoral climate, inject hatred and promote violence in the country," Mr Maduro wrote.

Government ministers have also taken to the internet calling for a coordinated wave of tweets celebrating Mr Chavez.