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Political Analysts Differ on Facets of Referendum
Sunday 19 September 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, September 19 (TASR) - The participation of Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radicova, Parliamentary Chairman Richard Sulik and President Ivan Gasparovic in Saturday's referendum was an exercise in humiliation for the high-rank political officials, said political analyst Rastislav Toth on Sunday.
"They have identified with the stance of approximately 20 percent of people, which is very humiliating for the Slovak political elite," he explained. "Many people know that the Constitution reduces a referendum to a very expensive opinion poll. That's because it's not binding either for Government or for Parliament ... so nothing has to be done after from the announcement the results (of the plebiscite)," said Toth, who said he was not surprised by the 22.84-percent turnout.
Political analyst Michal Horsky stated that Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, which initiated the seventh plebiscite in Slovakia's history, is a clear victor. He thinks that despite the turnout of 22.84 percent - far less than the 50 percent needed for the vote to be valid - SaS obtained the support of much bigger group of people in comparison with the number of its voters. He pointed to the fact that according to public opinion polls, SaS has around 12.5-percent support and had almost the same support in the general election on June 12.
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