ZAGREB, January 21, 2019 – Public Administration Minister Lovro Kuščević said on Monday a task force working on amendments to the Referendum Act would hold its first meeting on Tuesday.
The amendments will define deadlines for collecting and verifying signatures as well as for parliament to decide whether a referendum will be called.
Kuščević told reporters the amendments would remove the existing legal loopholes, saying the current law did not define the deadline by which parliament must decide on referendum petitions.
The amendments are planned to be on the government’s agenda in the first quarter of the year. “I believe the new law will contribute to greater transparency and a better implementation of referendums as a good form of expression of our fellow citizens’ wishes.”
Asked if the amended law would stipulate in which cases referendums could not be called, Kuščević said the answer would be given by the task force experts. He voiced confidence they will provide solutions which will protect democracy, the constitution and citizens’ right to decide in referendums.
Speaking of the Constitutional Court’s dismissal of “The Truth about the Istanbul Convention” and “The People Decide” referendum petitions, Kuščević said it was now up to parliament to decide if there existed conditions for calling referendums on cancelling the ratification of the Istanbul Convention and on amending election legislation as proposed by the pertaining civil initiative.
He believes parliament will conclude the two initiatives did not collect the required number of signatures for calling the two referendums and that parliament will not have to ask the Constitutional Court’s opinion.
He said the Court had explained everything clearly in its dismissal and that it was up to parliament to decide whether to call the referendums. “Given that the government’s report is transparent, extensive, objective and true, as confirmed by the Constitutional Court, that everything was done in line with the constitution and legal rules, I expect parliament to conclude very soon that the two initiatives didn’t collect the legally required number of valid signatures, a minimum 10%, and that it simply won’t call a referendum.”
Kuščević dismissed the initiatives’ claims that the Public Administration Ministry had stalled the verification of signatures.
More news on the referendum initiatives in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.
