Constitutional Court Rejects E-PM Appeal For Referendum On Paks Expansion

Budapest, July 8 (MTI) – Hungary’s Constitutional Court rejected on Tuesday a petition submitted by the leftist E-PM alliance for holding a referendum on the expansion of the Paks nuclear plant with a state loan.

E-PM turned to the top court in May, after the Kuria, Hungary’s supreme court, upheld a decision by the National Election Committee (NVB) ruling out a referendum on the expansion of the country’s sole nuclear plant.

The Kuria said that it had rejected a petition against the committee’s decision on the basis that the country’s fundamental law bars holding a popular ballot on agreements deriving from obligations set forth in an international accord.

The referendum initiative was lodged by Viktor Szigetvari and Benedek Javor. The question they wanted put to voters was: “Do you agree that the new reactor block should not be built in Hungary using a loan which inflates the public debt?”