| Series Title | European Voice |
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| Series Details | Vol.10, No.5, 12.2.04 |
| Publication Date | 12/02/2004 |
| Content Type | News |
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Date: 12/02/04 SLOVAKIA is to hold a referendum on 3 April on whether to call early parliamentary elections, President Rudolf Schuster has announced. The referendum will be held the same day as the first round of voting in the presidential election "in order to guarantee as large a turnout as possible", Schuster said. Slovak unions last month submitted a 600,000-signature petition to the president, calling for early elections in a bid to force out the government of Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda. Recent economic reforms, aimed at preparing the country for its accession to the EU on 1 May, have proved unpopular and Schuster, a former communist, has frequently clashed with the administration. The referendum, which is only valid if a majority of the registered electorate cast their votes, is backed by the parliamentary opposition. In the past, several referenda have failed to achieve a sufficient turnout in Slovakia, which became independent in 1993 when it broke away from then Czechoslovakia. According to the Slovak constitution, the president must call a referendum if he receives a petition signed by at least 350,000 people. Dzurinda condemned the union petition as a political initiative from the opposition that "is not honest since it takes Slovakia into an impasse". The unions have held strikes in recent months over reforms which they see as favouring the rich.
As well as Schuster, they include Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan, current favourite in opinion polls, and former prime minister Vladimir Meciar. A referendum will be held in the Slovak Republic on 3 April 2004 on whether to call early parliamentary elections. |
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| Source Link | http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Countries / Regions | Slovakia |
