Constitutional Court Rejects E-PM Appeal For Referendum On Paks Expansion

Budapest, July 8 (MTI) – Hungary’s Constitutional Court rejected on Tuesday a petition submitted by the leftist E-PM alliance for holding a referendum on the expansion of the Paks nuclear plant with a state loan.

E-PM turned to the top court in May, after the Kuria, Hungary’s supreme court, upheld a decision by the National Election Committee (NVB) ruling out a referendum on the expansion of the country’s sole nuclear plant.

The Kuria said that it had rejected a petition against the committee’s decision on the basis that the country’s fundamental law bars holding a popular ballot on agreements deriving from obligations set forth in an international accord.

The referendum initiative was lodged by Viktor Szigetvari and Benedek Javor. The question they wanted put to voters was: “Do you agree that the new reactor block should not be built in Hungary using a loan which inflates the public debt?”

Szigetvari and Javor turned to the Constitutional Court as the ultimate possibility to appeal against the Kuria’s decision. E-PM argued that the Hungarian state had assumed no obligation for building new nuclear blocks in the accord so the proposed question did not affect an international obligation. It follows that failure to build such block is not a violation of an international accord.

In E-PM’s view, the supreme court broadened in its ruling the interpretation of the country’s constitution and restricted with this the right to a public referendum.

In its justification published on Tuesday, the Constitutional Court said that the issue addressed by E-PM is not against the constitution and upheld the Kuria’s decision, which it said had not violated any fundamental right.

Photo: www.birosag.hu

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters