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President to Call SaS-initiated Referendum by July 9
Tuesday 29 June 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, June 29 (TASR) - President Ivan Gasparovic will call a referendum as initiated by the Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party within 30 days after receiving the respective petition sheets, that is, by July 9, the press department of the President's Office told TASR on Tuesday.
The 30,053 sheets with 401,126 signatures were handed in on June 9 and examined by June 25. Of the total, 368,000 signatures were assessed as valid, with the remainder of 33,126 counted as void, most frequently due to missing, illegible or non-identifiable names.
The petition for calling a referendum states six questions for inclusion, and therefore meets the conditions required for a referendum to be called by the president.
The six questions concern the abolition of television and radio licence fees, the curbing of MPs' immunity, a reduction in the number of MPs from 150 to 100, a maximum purchasing price for cars used by government officials, voting in elections via the internet, and removing the right to reply from public officials (as included in the current Press Act of 2008).
To ensure its validity, at least 50 percent of the country's eligible voters will have to take part in the referendum.
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