The election office has already begun the count, which they have 60 days to complete, adding to several other steps to be done before the president can eventually set the date. Continue reading
The referendum initiatives regarding the Budapest campus of China’s Fudan University and the extension of unemployment benefits have each garnered the required minimum number of 200,000 valid signatures, the National Election Committee (NVB) confirmed on Wednesday. The referendum initiatives were submitted by Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony as a private individual.
This article was originally published on our sister-site, Ungarn Heute.
The referendum questions are aimed at preventing a campus of Fudan University from being built in Budapest and callsq for extending the jobseekers’ allowance to 270 days.
At least 200,526 valid supporting signatures were submitted for the referendum bid on the Fudan University campus, while at least 200,555 signatures were submitted for the one on the jobseekers’ allowance, the NVB said.
The mayor of Budapest and other opposition politicians submitted the signatures for the referendum collected on January 21, a total of about 470,000, and the electoral office began verifying the signatures on January 27, a process that has now been completed. The opposition wanted the referendum to be held on April 3, when people can vote on the general election and the government’s “child protection” referendum, but missed that opportunity due to various procedural and objection deadlines.
Mayor Gergely Karácsony commented on Facebook on Wednesday that the counting of signatures took longer than even the collection, which “can hardly be considered a non-intentional delay.” He added: “But the will of the people is making its way, there will be a real referendum on April 3, where we will decide about the student city and also about how to help our fellow citizens in need. On April 3, we will finally judge those who make their decisions over our heads thoughtlessly and stupidly!”
Although the opposition parties originally wanted to hold a national referendum on five issues, only the first and fifth issues were approved by the National Election Committee. These two questions are:
However, three other questions were not supported by the Election Committee:
As we reported earlier, the opposition started collecting signatures in mid-December and submitted them on January 21st this year.
The referendum questions of the ruling parties had previously been approved by the Election Committee, which had been unsuccessfully challenged before the Constitutional Court. The printing of ballots for the government’s questions, referring to the Child Protection Law, has already begun.
The most likely scenario is that the referendum initiated by the opposition could take place sometime in October.
In the featured photo: Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony with the collected signatures. Photo by Zoltán Balogh/MTI