site.btaMajority Adopts GERB's Bill Amending Citizens' Direct Participation in Central Government and Local Self-Government Act

Majority Adopts GERB's Bill Amending Citizens' Direct Participation in Central Government
and Local Self-Government Act

Sofia, June 4 (BTA) - Parliament voted 96-5, with 19
abstentions, to adopt on first reading GERB's bill amending the
Citizens Direct Participation in Central Government and Local
Self-Government Act. The MPs rejected five other bills amending
what is known as the Referendum Act moved by the Reformist Bloc,
the ABV party and Ataka.

GERB's bill regulates the simultaneous holding of an election
and a referendum, and makes it possible for Bulgarians abroad to
vote in a referendum.

Surprisingly, the MPs rejected the Reformist Bloc's and ABV's
bills which had been approved by the Legal Affairs Committee.
They both proposed reducing the number of signatures needed to
oblige Parliament to hold a referendum from 500,000 to 300,000.
They also proposed a lower validity threshold linked to the
number of people with the right to vote. This would have
de-linked the validity threshold from the number of voters who
participated in the latest parliamentary elections.

Ataka leader Volen Siderov and a group of MPs proposed three
bills, introducing requirements for proficiency in Bulgarian,
for residence and mandatory voting; a different number of
signatures which must be submitted to Parliament; and a broader
scope of subjects for a referendum.