LMP to propose amendment of referendum law
Budapest, February 25 (MTI) – The green opposition LMP party said it will submit to parliament a proposed amendment to Hungary’s referendum law to make it easier for citizens to file referendum initiatives, András Schiffer, the party’s co-leader, announced on Thursday.
“If the prime minister is not afraid of the people” then he will support making it easier for citizens to initiate referendums, Schiffer told a press conference in Zalaegerszeg, in south-western Hungary.
Schiffer said LMP will also propose ways to close “loopholes” in the law that “Fidesz takes advantage of … in order to disable the institution of the referendum”.
He said the government “preventing the submission of a referendum initiative with the help of bouncers” and then announcing their own referendum on migrant quotas just one day later was “nothing short of political perversion”.
On Tuesday, a Socialist lawmaker was prevented from submitting a referendum initiative on the Sunday shop closure law on time because the entrance to the National Election office was blocked by 15-20 bulked up men with shaved heads. While the MP was held up, a private individual was able to submit a question on the same subject.
The referendum rules currently in place state that while a question is being examined by a court, it is not possible to submit another question on the same subject.
Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters