Liberals submit objection to election cttee over referendum campaign

Budapest, June 7 (MTI) – The Hungarian Liberal Party has submitted an objection to the National Election Committee (NVB), arguing that the government campaign in support of its referendum seeking to block approval of the European Union’s mandatory migrant quota plan is illegal.

Liberal politician Ádám Sermer told a news conference on Tuesday that the government’s campaign material is not informative but seeks to influence voters to reject the quota plan. At the same time, the rules state that a campaign can only be mounted fifty days before the date for the popular vote, and since a date has not yet been set the current campaign is illegal, he insisted.

The Liberals have called on the NVB to instruct the government to withdraw its illegal campaign.

In its response, ruling Fidesz referred to “pro-immigration” parties and insisted that those forces sought to “prevent voters from being informed” about the referendum.

Hungary’s Left “wants to settle immigrants” in the country, that is why they seek to thwart the referendum, Fidesz said in its statement.

The campaign is necessary because “Hungarian people need to know that it is up to them, rather than to Brussels, to decide with whom they want to live together with”, authors of the document argued. “All those that want to hush up the referendum will serve the interests of Brussels and of the pro-immigration forces,” the statement added.

On Monday, the Liberal Party demanded that the government should disclose how much it has spent on its campaign and what resources it has used to cover the costs.

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