Ex EU Commissioner Party: Bulgarian Referendum is Fraud

The new Bulgaria for Citizens party will work for a boycott of Bulgaria's upcoming referendum on nuclear energy, although it supports referendums in principles.

"The main idea of this referendum is to discredit the idea of a referendum in general, because it is being done under flawed legislation, and then parliament can decide whatever it wants," commented Sunday Proshko Proshkov, member of the party's National Council.

On January 27, Bulgarian citizens will have to answer the question "Should nuclear energy be developed in Bulgaria through the construction of new nuclear power units?"

The specific cause for the convocation of a referendum is the unclear fate of frozenBelene NPP project.

The referendum was sponsored by the Bulgarian Socialist Party, which gathered a petition of more than the 0.5 M legally needed signatures.

According to Proshkov, another reason behind the referndum is a desire on the part of GERB and Socialists to escape responsibilities for spending already made for Belene NPP.

"This referdum uses citizens as cover; decision on nuclear energy has been taken long ago," said the rightist politician.

Bulgaria for Citizens' leader, former EU Commissioner Meglena Kuneva, has also spoken out against the referendum.

Bulgaria for Citizens has warned that a hidden agreement between GERB and BSP, officialy the ruling party's opposition, could contribute to significant fraud in upcoming summer 2013 general elections.

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