site.btaPresident Plevneliev Decrees Holding of Referendum Together with Presidential Elections

President Plevneliev Decrees Holding of Referendum Together with Presidential Elections

Sofia, August 16 (BTA) - President Rosen Plevneliev has issued a decree to hold a national referendum on November 6, 2016, the same date as the one fixed for the presidential elections, the President's Press Secretariat reported on Tuesday.

The referendum will contain the following questions: "Do you support the election of members of parliament based on the majority principle in two rounds?; Do you support the introduction of compulsory voting in elections and referendums?; Do you support setting the state subsidy, allocated for financing political parties and coalitions, at 1 lev per vote received in the latest general elections?".

According to Article 98 (1) of the Bulgarian Constitution, the President of the Republic shall schedule a date for conduct of a national referendum, where the National Assembly has passed a resolution on this. According to the Citizens' Direct Participation in Central Government and Local Self-Government Act, when regular elections are scheduled and Parliament has decided on holding a national referendum, the two are held on the same date, the press release recalled.

The signatures needed for initiating the referendum were collected by the team of TV talk show host Slavi Trifonov. In July, the Constitutional Court rejected three of the questions as unconstitutional.