The referendum as an institution will soon be making its debut in Greece as well.
After months in which Socialist Prime Minister George Papandreou has repeatedly spoken about the importance of this instrument to lead Greeks towards further democratic achievements, Interior Minister Charis Castanidis has presented a draft law on the holding of referendums in Greece. The draft law – as reported by today’s papers – calls for two forms of referendum: one to propose and one to eliminate.
The first is for issues of national importance, both of a social and of an economic nature, while the second concerns laws passed by Parliament but not yet published in the Official Gazette. To call a referendum on an issue of a national character, there needs to be a proposal by the government and the approval of a majority of MPs (151 out of 300). To call a referendum for a law which has already been passed by Parliament, there needs to be a proposal by two-fifths of MPs (120) and approval by three-fifths of MPs (180). The results of the voting for referendums are binding for the government only of at least 50% of the electoral body take part in it. As concerns referendums on issues of national importance, the quorum will be decided during the drawing up of the law by the competent parliamentary committee. The questions on the referendum will be decided by Parliament.
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