Bulgaria's GERB Revises Solo NPP Referendum Question

Politics » DOMESTIC | October 19, 2012, Friday // 09:24
Bulgaria's GERB Revises Solo NPP Referendum Question: Bulgaria's GERB Revises Solo NPP Referendum Question The GERB Chair of the Parliamentary Legal Committee, Iskra Fidosova, authored the proposal to alter the question of the Belene NPP referendum. Photo by BGNES

The MPs from the Legal Committee of the Bulgarian Parliament voted late Thursday the edited version of the question of the referendum on the project to build a second Nuclear Power Plant in the Danube town of Belene.

Only Members of the Parliament from the ruling, center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, had the final say on the question after three hours of heated debates. Those from the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP, and the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms, DPS, left in sign of protest before the vote.

The GERB government scrapped the Belene NPP project in March 2012, declaring it economically unfeasible. The pro-Belene BSP then launched a petition for a referendum on the Russian-Bulgarian project's fate.

The inspection of the petition recently concluded the 543 639 valid signatures are enough to make the vote irreversible.

The question of the petition was: "Should nuclear energy be developed in Bulgaria through the building of a Nuclear Plant at the Belene site?"

The edited question, which was the proposal of the GERB Chair of the Legal Committee, Iskra Fidosova, postulates: "Should nuclear energy be developed in Bulgaria through the building of a new Nuclear Plant?"

GERB MPs, backed by Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, insist the word Belene makes the referendum anti-constitutional and dooms it to failure.

The Legal Committee further passed the proposal to hold a referendum with the edited question.

The opposition is outraged by the revision, claiming it changes the very essence of the question and undermines thousands of Bulgarians, who have signed the petition.

The question now has to be voted in plenary hall, where it can be revised once again.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

Domestic » Be a reporter: Write and send your article
Tags: Prime Minister, petition, DPS, BSP, MPs, Nuclear Power Plant, Referendum, NPP, Belene, question, Iskra Fidosova, Legal Committee, parliamentary, Chair, GERB, Boyko Borisov

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria