Socialists accuse Fidesz over court decision rejecting referendum

Budapest, September 16 (MTI) – The Constitutional Court’s rejection of a supreme court ruling which would have allowed a referendum to go ahead on the question of the right of men to retire after 40 years may well have been made by a body solely comprising Fidesz lawyers, the Socialist Party said on Wednesday.

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Nandor Gur, a Socialist lawmaker, told a news conference that it appeared that the Constitutional Court had taken political orders.

The Constitutional Court on Tuesday ruled that a decision by the Kuria, Hungary’s supreme court, approving a referendum initiative on allowing men to retire after 40 years of work is unconstitutional.

The ruling means that a referendum cannot be held on the issue.

The Kuria’s ruling overrode a decision by the National Election Committee that rejected the referendum question on equal early retirement rights for women and men, the Constitutional Court said on its website.

Following the supreme court’s ruling, trade unions began collecting the 200,000 signatures required by law for calling a referendum, but several individuals and lobby groups submitted complaints to the Constitutional Court, which had been set to publish its official ruling next week but decided to make an early announcement due to the ongoing collection of signatures.