Send to Kindle
Plenary chamber of Bulgaria's National Assembly. Photo: BGNES
The Bulgarian Parliament adopted at second reading on Tuesday the amendments to the law on direct participation of citizens in the government.
According to the adopted amendments, the collection of 400 000 signatures will be enough to initiate a compulsory referendum, daily Dnevnik repots.
Thus, the threshold for initiating referendum by citizens was lowered from 500 000 to 400 000 signatures.
Moreover, the parliament will not have the right to refuse the holding of the referendum or to amend the question.
The MPs voted against the proposals for lowering the threshold even further to 300 000 signatures.
The parliament also approved the holding of referendum and local elections on the same day, with 88 MPs voting in favour, 12 against, while 11 MPs abstained.
The only party expressing opposition to the amendments was the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), which even proposed increasing the threshold from 500 000 to 800 000 signatures.
DPS leader Lyutvi Mestan said that the discussed amendments were favouring the holding of the referendum proposed by Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev.
The proposed referendum is to feature questions on the introduction of compulsory voting, electronic voting and majority voting.
According to Mestan, the introduction of majority electoral system will result in a one-party rule.
We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!
According to the latest Eurostat data published today, 6.8% of the European Union's population experienced severe material and social deprivation in 2023
On September 17, 2024, Bulgaria will experience significant cloud cover with localized rain showers
The first day of school in Bulgaria began with cool temperatures ranging from 6 to 11 degrees Celsius in most areas
Bulgaria's President Rumen Radev urged the media to avoid allowing political speculators and self-proclaimed experts to manipulate public opinion regarding the crash of a military plane near 'Graf Ignatievo' Air Base
Atanas Pekanov, Bulgaria's former vice-prime minister for European funds under the "Donev" administration, has warned that the country is likely to forfeit at least 500 million leva (250 million euros) from the Recovery and Sustainability Plan
In the 5th round of the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Bulgaria’s women’s chess team secured a narrow 2.5:1.5 victory over Latvia
Every 20 minutes, fire alerts are received from across Bulgaria.
I feel no moral guilt towards anyone. This was stated by Kiril Petkov, answering a question whether he would apologize to the Bulgarian people for violating the Constitution.
Head of the Military Medical Academy (MMA) Major General Prof.
The Ministry of Finance has revised its autumn forecast for economic development.
Bulgarian police arrested a Russian citizen and two Lithuanians on suspicion of exporting “sensitive information” from the Arsenal military plant in Kazanlak.
Bulgaria Ranks Second in the Balkans at Paris 2024 Olympics, 26th Overall
Bulgaria Leads Europe in Heat-Related Deaths in Record-Breaking 2023
